Down Goes Another One
by caityjane
Summary: A tragic accident strikes at McKinley High and no-one can understand how such a perfect day went so horrifically wrong. Tragedy based with the comfort of slight Finchel, Quick and Tartie at the side!
1. Said I'd Die For You And I Would

_New story! Not sure about this one, it's set to be a sad angsty story. I don't own Glee and I don't own the song this is named after (Down Goes Another One by Mcfly). I hope you like it and if you don't, tell me in a review! I'll need a lot of support for this one as I'm not sure if people will take to it. Enjoy..._

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_'Did the best that I could, said I'd die for you and I would...'_

Finn choked on the thick, black smoke now engulfing McKinley High. The tall red hot flames licked the lockers, making it almost impossible to see his way around. Screams echoed from every corner of the school, the fire system had failed and nobody realised there was a fire until way too late. He staggered through the corridors, feeling the immense heat burning his face and finally he reached the choir room door. Finn grabbed the handle only to feel the metal scalding his skin and the hiss of his palm melting. He shoulder barged the door and it swung open. Knowing he literally had minutes until it was too late, and his vision impaired, he dropped to his knees and began to crawl along the floor, looking for his missing two friends with his hands. Seconds later, he knocked into a stirring body. The sight was enough to make Finn want to tear his eyeballs out.

"Rachel? Matt?" Finn questioned, his voice sharp and scratchy with the smoke.

"Finn, you came back?" A faint voice replied. It was Rachel. Her eyes kept fluttering shut and it looked like in the rush she had fallen as her hair was matted with blood. Her sweater was coated in smoke and her knees were burnt from the epic heat of the floor. Finn got the impression she had waited for her friends to leave to ensure they would be okay. Although Rachel came across as self centred, she truly loved her friends and in any dangerous situation would put herself last. A chair near her half unconscious body suggested she had tripped on its leg and cut her head.

"Give me a second babe; just let me check for Matt and we'll get out of here!" He reassured her and then he began to crawl further around the choir room, desperate to find his fellow jock.

"Matt!" He called, his voice now hoarse with the combination of screaming and smoke. A huge crack from near the doorway halted this search though, as the doorframe fell through, leaving Finn and Rachel trapped in a ring of fire.

"Shit!" Finn cursed, crawling back over to Rachel. Fear took over every cell in his body and he began to lose the little control he had held, his heart skipping beats. He reached Rachel and dragged her onto his lap so he could see her better.

"We're going to be okay Rach, we're going to be just fine, I promise Rach..." Finn soothed her, not wanting her to see how scared he was – scared he was going to die this way, scared Rachel was going to die this way, scared of looking like a fool because he had failed to save his friends. He stroked her hair, knowing that even though she was now unconscious, he would feel some sort of relief that he had done his best for her – to comfort her. Finn couldn't understand how such a damn straight perfect day had gone so horrifically wrong. Feeling his body get weaker, he tried to fight the feelings of drowsiness he was getting. He heard voices in the background, but he couldn't tell if they were fire fighters or students still trying desperately to get out. With one last glance at Rachel, he gave himself up to the dark.

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It had been such an amazing day for Finn before that. At Glee morning rehearsal, himself and Rachel had just been given the latest duet. In Spanish he had got a C – a C! Without cheating! English had gone okay, he had managed to get some sleep in the back of the class. Trig had gone by without any major problems. At football practised he managed to get a touchdown, beating Karofsky! And at lunch they were serving Finn's favourite – the New York Deli and custard for dessert. Things really were going perfectly. Then at the extra Glee rehearsal, things started to go a little wrong. Mr Schue decided that after school for the two weeks in the run up to Nationals, New Directions would have a rehearsal.

"Finn, try a little harder. You can reach the high B, I've heard you sing it before!" Rachel ordered.

"No! I'm tired. And hungry. Can't we have a break? We've been practising half an hour straight. We're not all trained singers you know?" Finn snapped back.

"Well, _Finn, _we're attempting to win Nationals. And you know what that takes? Being the best! And the best don't have breaks every half an hour!" Rachel yelled straight back.

"Woah guys, cool it! Finn, go get a glass of water from the Nurse. Rachel, cool it. I want you to come help me arrange next weeks piece..." Mr Schue came over, peace maker as ever, and took Rachel with him so Finn could take some moments to himself.

"They will _so_ be screwing tonight!" Finn heard Puck say to Matt whilst on his way out. Finn slammed the door to inform Matt and Puck he had heard them laughing, then continued on his way to the Nurse's office. He got his drink, then began his journey back to the choir room.

Finn didn't notice at first, but all the classrooms were eerily empty. If he'd have listened maybe a little harder, he'd have heard echoes of shouts from the outside as they watched the school go up in flames. If he'd have been a little more observant, he'd have noticed the flames licking the canteen door. It wasn't until he got to the main corridor of the school that he noticed that the east side of the building was up in flames.

"You _have_ to be kidding me!" Finn cursed under his breath, his mouth gaping open. He slammed his way through the fire exit and saw Mr Schue directing the younger students into lines, a terrified look on his face.

"Sir? Where's Glee? And why didn't I hear the fire alarm?" He hurriedly asked, a confused look on his face.

"The fire system's failed, Finn. It looks like something's been wrong with it for a long time, and its gone unnoticed. The fire spread quickly in the east side and we managed to get the west side out completely unharmed. However, some students are still missing in the east side. The fire spread too quickly, no one could do anything. Glee's over there Finn, near the benches. They're fine!" Mr Schue directed, then continued ordering the children.

Finn ran over, spying Puck and Quinn hugging each other. He smiled at everyone, until the missing smacked him in the face.

"Guys? Where's Rachel and Matt?" He asked, his voice trembling.

"Matt disappeared at the same time we were told to evacuate. And Rachel... Rachel's missing Finn. Nobody saw her leave," Kurt replied, his eyes downcast and heavy.

"And you're all just stood here?" He exclaimed, sprinting back into the building, ignoring the cries from the glee club to stop being a hero.

"Jesus..." Mike swore under his breath as he watched his friend sprint back into the burning building. He didn't know what was worse, the fact that his school was on fire and his friends were trapped inside, or the fact he had just stood there watching his friend run to his death. He never realised what a good person Finn Hudson was. Mike turned away from New Directions and emptied his stomach on the floor.

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_Hope you liked it. Any ideas on how to improve, put them in a review! :)_


	2. Drowned All Those Feelings In The Flood

_This chapter focusses on Quick! I hope you enjoy it and thank you SO much for all the reviews and story alerts. They made my absolute day a hell of a lot better. I got all the emails before I went into an English exam, so you made me believe I could do it! Thank you SO much. It would be amazing if you could repeat that for this chapter? Enjoy..._

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_'But I drowned all those feelings in the flood...'_

Puck held onto Quinn tight, like she was the last thing he had in this shitty world. He was sounding more pansy then badass now, but maybe situations like this did that to you. Everything didn't seem _real_. One minute, he was making jokes to Matt about Finn, the next everyone was being told to get the fuck outside and BAM he was damn straight in the middle of a life and death situation. A life and death game where three of his best friends may have just lost. A year ago, Puck hated most of these people. He wouldn't have given a flying fuck if they'd gotten out of that building alive. Quite frankly, he'd have probably still been throwing slushies in their faces and chucking them in dustbuins. But – and he wouldn't admit this to anybody, ever – he kinda liked them. It was cool feeling accepted instead of being badass constantly. They didn't care what he was like as long as he was their _friend_ and Puck though maybe it was better being someone's friend then someone's enemy. Even if you looked like a wimp. So now Matt was missing in action, Berry (he cared about her, even if he said she made him want to light himself on fire) had never left the building and Finn had gone in to find them, well, a little bit of him was slowly being crushed to death inside.

Puck knew Finn was in to Berry. It didn't take a genius to work it out, but it still surprised the hell out of him when Finn went back in after her. Finn never seemed like the type of guy to risk his life for a chick? Sometimes Puck wondered if Finn knew the difference between the real world and video games. It was like he thought he'd set it to 'unlimited lives' mode. Shit, he spent that much time on them it was questionable. Puck didn't notice when Finn had grown a pair. The Finn Hudson he knew would never have the balls to do that. A few months ago, Finn Hudson didn't have the balls to date a gleek because he was afraid to damage his reputation. Still, maybe you never show your true colours until the situation asks for it.

He looked around at his fellow friends. Mike was wiping his mouth with a disgusted yet horrified look on his face. Mercedes and Kurt were slumped on a wall, talking to each other quickly with serious looks on their faces. Santana had taken Brittany to one side and it looked as if she was explaining what was really happening. Brittany's face was changing from one of peace to one filled with tears and pain. Tina was sat there silently – it looked as if she was in shock – and Artie held on to her hand. He was shaking his head, as if he was having difficulty comprehending what was happening. Puck felt for the guy, he'd seen more pain and horror then everybody else in this whole school.

He felt a growing wet patch on his shoulder.

"Quinn?" Puck whispered into her ear, a worried look etched onto his face. Puck may come across as badass, but Quinn Fabray was the only exception. He loved her.

"I'm just so upset, Puck. I can't even begin... Matt's trapped in there and everybody loves Matt. He's so nice! Rachel's trapped in there and I know I've never liked her but this? No-one deserves _this! _And Finn, oh my GOD, Finn was okay. But no, he had to go back in! Fuck, I mean seriously? Why did he have to go back in?" Quinn was growing hysterical by this point, her pale face was red and blotchy and stained with tears.

"I don't know baby, I really don't know..." Puck grabbed Quinn, holding her tight and rocking her as she sobbed. He glanced towards the school, and although he had imagined burning the place down, very seriously several times, he'd never seen a sight so _horrific_. Fire engines and ambulances were scattered outside; fire fighters tackling the blaze from the west side. Ambulances stood on standby, ready to assist when the... _deceased_ (Puck didn't even want to say it) and injured were pulled out. After a few minutes of staring at the building, he tore his eyes away. Quinn seemed to have stopped sobbing as hysterically as before and was instead taking big, shuddering gasps.

"Quinn? We're getting the fuck out of here!" He let go of her and grabbed her hand. It was sweaty, but he didn't care. He looked up at her beautiful porcelain face to see her gorgeous features. He decided he liked her eyes best today, her perfect green eyes. If he looked at them long enough, he could get lost in them. Maybe that's how he could get through this? Picking one of Quinn's perfect features every day and getting lost in her forever and ever...

"What? Don't you want to see if they're okay..." Quinn faltered, breaking through his train of thought. She was torn, torn between wanting to ensure the safety of her friends and wanting to get home into her room and sob into her pillows. Pretend that it never happened.

"We need to get out of here. It might seem selfish, but this isn't healthy. We need to go, now!" Puck exclaimed, dragging her towards the gate. He felt guilty, he knew he was being selfish and he could tell off Quinn's face she didn't know what in hell was right. Then again, what at all could be right in a situation like this?

Quinn didn't try to stop him. In that split second, she made up her mind. She took his hand more firmly then spoke.

"Okay Puck..." She stated, and followed him out of the school. They barged through the green gate, ignoring the calls from the glee club and setting off down the road. As they walked away, from the school they tried to walk away from the nightmares of the last hour. The telltale smoke lingered in their noses though, and it wasn't long before they got to a bench and broke down in each others arms.

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_Review please?_


	3. Need to know, if you're there

_Sorry about the lack of updates! My computer deleted the chapter, and I had to rewrite it. As I've been out all weekend, I couldn't post it until now! This chapter is the final chapter to put the scenario in place, things will keep moving faster from here on in. I hope you enjoy, and please review. You've been so incredible up to now, I can't thank you enough. Please keep it up! Enjoy :)!_

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'Need to know, if you're there, if you're listening to my prayers...'_

Matt Rutherford. If you said that name to the entire tenth grade, about 10% of them would be able to tell you who I am. The football team, the glee club and a couple of random kids I chat to every now and again. I've never really made a massive impression on the school; I've never done anything incredible with my life. Them kids who are invisible: they get by without slushies but aren't really _noticed_. That's me. I never minded before the fire. I kind of appreciated it, being invisible was better then being stereotyped as a geek or using a term from Coach Sylvester 'sub-basement'. Sometimes, I wished I could do more for the Rachel Berry's of the year, but I didn't see the point of usurping my very comfortable position in the faculty. I guess I never regretted that more than in the last five minutes of my life...

"They will _so_ be screwing tonight!" Puck said to Matt, a smirk written on his face. He laughed a deep laugh that he had to fake from the bottom of his stomach somewhere. When he heard Finn slam the door, Matt felt sort of guilty. He liked Finn, and he didn't want to offend him in anyway. Still, by the time Finn had come back, they'd be onto a new song anyway. Matt looked towards Rachel, who was still fuming. He could tell by her cute little elf ears that she was mad – they were tinged red. Matt was totally into Rachel Berry. He had _no_ explanation for it and they were complete opposites, but he couldn't help feel his heart tug a little when she smiled at him, or when she bossed him around. Likewise, he couldn't help feel a stab of jealousy somewhere in his gut when she kissed Finn or sang a duet with him.

Rachel was the reason he was taking vocal lesson outside of glee. Matt figured if he got stronger vocally he could snatch the male lead. His dancing was already miles ahead of Finn – and if he became the male lead, he'd become braver to stick up for Rachel and other kids like her. Especially against that creepy Jacob kid. Then, Rachel could see his true colours and his vocal talent and maybe – just maybe, she'd see _him._ And maybe then she'd just so happen to fall out of love with Hudson and into love with Matt. He knew it was a long shot, but it was the best he had.

Rachel and Mr Schue were talking by the piano. Rachel was bobbing her head up and down, her mouth moving frantically and enthusiastically, whereas Mr Schue was looking at the music sheets he had in front of him, trying to interrupt so he could tell Rachel the potential new song for Nationals. Music sheets... music sheets... the words set off alarms in Matt's head. He'd left his sheets for vocal training in his locker.

'_Sometimes being invisible has its advantages' _he thought as he slipped out of the door and ran down the corridors to his locker. Searching through his locker, it took him at least ten minutes to find his sheets buried under his gym kit. Grabbing the sheets, he turned around only to see smoke billowing from beneath the canteen door. And a science lab... and the corridors behind him to the fire exit. His heart skipped a beat and he nearly screamed like a girl there and then. Taking a long breath, he though of how to get out. He'd have to go back the way he came and hope to God that there was no more fire that way. He began to run, his music sheets tucked safely under his arm. All the classrooms to the left of the corridors were on fire. He could hear explosions going off as the science labs went up, the chemicals reacting violently to the fire. The smoke began to choke him, his lungs getting more and more constricted and taking in less and less followed the labyrinth of classrooms and eventually he could see the choir room, way up ahead. He broke into a sprint until he felt something slip from underneath his arm. His sheets flew behind him to just outside an empty classroom. He stopped, turning back to grab them and then get out.

Everything seemed to slow down for Matt then. He turned around, spying the fire that was catching up to him faster and faster. He took a second to weigh it up, then thought he could chance it. Darting back, he rushed to the sheets, tripping over his own feet and skidding on his knees to just outside the door. Gulping the oxygen in, he gathered his sheets, and staggering to his feet. Once on his feet, he spied inside the classroom to see if anyone needed help. He couldn't see anybody, but what he did see scared him so much more. A bottle of chemicals. And a flame. He began to run, but his movements were too slow. The explosion tore at the back of his legs, burning his skin and sending him to the floor. Dizzy and disorientated – the music sheets far from his mind – he crawled across the floor, desperate to see the door which meant freedom. The explosion had destroyed his legs though, and soon he gave up, in too much pain to continue. He crawled to a corner near lockers, waiting to be rescued. He really hoped there was a god right now. And a heaven.

Matt sat there, thinking about his life. How he wished he'd told Rachel how he felt sooner. How he wished the vocal lessons hadn't screwed him over like this. How he wished he'd told somewhere where he'd gone. How much he wished he hadn't been invisible. The word invisible rang in his mind until some of the ceiling gave way. Matt let out one final cry of agony, then fell still.

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_Review please :)?_


	4. Raindrops Through The Mud

_Fifty-one alerts, twenty favourites and thirty-nine reviews that is so immense! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this, this is longer. I've got serious exams coming up now which end on Friday so updates will be limited but I'll try my best to update at least once cause I love this story and I love my reviewers and readers! Enjoy..._

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'Do my tears, feel like raindrops through the mud?'_

Mercedes didn't know the true meaning of 'hell' until she was eleven years old. Before, she thought it was a place where you could toast marshmallows and sunbathe all day long. When she was nine years old, she was taught in Religious Education that if you were a bad person, you went to hell. For weeks, she worried about what being a bad person meant; was she a bad person for forgetting a piece of homework? Eventually, she worked up the courage to ask her teacher what it meant and her understanding of bad and good grew. She decided to be more confident from then on. At the age of eleven, she opened up the newspaper she had bought for her mom. There were children without limbs, covered in blood and dirt. She asked her mom what it all meant, and her mom explained to her that hell was not only a place where bad people went, but that hell could be on earth. And those children were living it. Mercedes asked what they'd done to deserve hell – were they bad people? That was when her mom explained for the first time how the world worked. When she moved up to High School and joined glee club, she met Artie, and experienced and met her first survivor from 'hell'. Mercedes didn't ever truly understand until that day at McKinley.

When a teacher smacked into the choir room and screamed 'GET OUT! THERE'S A FIRE!', Mercedes was worried, but never for one moment did she consider that pupils might die. That her friends might die. She just left the building, thinking her friends were following her and that everything would be okay. That it was probably only a minor fire anyway so there was nothing to worry about. When she got outside and to the 'safe site', she got registered then went over to the bench where the other gleeks were.

"Guys, where's Rachel and Matt - and why's Finn running back inside?" Her booming voice rang out.

"I don't know Mercedes – we don't know. We were just talking about it, no one saw them leave! Finn's gone to find them!" Quinn's hysterical voice rang out, and for the first time, she began to truly understand what the word hell meant.

She turned slowly to look back at the school. She thought she could never see a more terrifying sight. Everything, everywhere she looked, was burning. Smoke billowed from the roof and red and orange darted out from windows. Mercedes felt her knees give way, and she slumped onto the wall next to Kurt.

"I don't know what to do Kurt, damn what do I do?" She whispered hurriedly to her best friend.

"Mercedes, you can't do anything, just sit still and be calm," Kurt replied with cool words, meant to be calming. Maybe they would have been calming if his voice hadn't broken with the sheer emotion halfway through.

"Damn Kurt! Your step-brothers in there and two of our best friends are in there, there's got to be something!" Her voice grew higher and higher.

"I know but there's nothing I can think of! Nothing at all! And I can't go after Finn, because I'm all my dad's got left. And I don't know what to do, because right now my brain's just NOT working well enough to come up with a plan!" Kurt replied viciously.

There was a moment of silence, and they watched Puck and Quinn run out of the gate.

"I'm sorry Kurt," She said guiltily.

"I'm sorry too Mercedes, we shouldn't take it out on each other, not at a time like this... Why don't you go over to the teachers and see if they want you to help out?" Kurt's voice was collected again.

"I will Kurt, thank you... Don't stay alone, okay?" She replied softly, giving him a shaky smile.

"Darling, I'm never on my own, not with Tina and Artie around!" He smiled, and went over to the couple, whilst Mercedes weaved her way through all the frantic people, some with make up smudged down their faces, others with stony cold faces of shock. She eventually made it over to Principal Figgins.

"Sir, is there anything I can do to help?" She timidly asked.

"No thank you, Miss Jones. Your offer is received with gratitude and respect – in this difficult time, I recognize the great personal sacrifice you are making by volunteering your efforts. However, at this time I do not think any of the students should see the horrors that are continuing inside our school. Thank you anyway," The Principal babbled as usual, and she bowed her head and began to walk away.

She stopped, something attracting her attention in the corner of her eye. She spun around and realised that the fire fighters had now cleared a lot of the fire on the east side, but it had gotten uncontrollable on the west side where luckily everybody had been evacuated. That meant only one thing – they could begin removing bodies and getting people out of the east side. Struck still in her position near the teachers, she watched as fire fighters began to pull people out. There was a blonde girl with half her face burnt badly – but she was alive; a boy covered with a sheet who was quite obviously dead; a teacher with burnt legs and several others she didn't know dead or injured. Finally, a girl on a stretcher was being rushed to the ambulance Mercedes was stood near. Her brown hair was matted together with blood; her clothes were covered in soot and her eyes kept fluttering open and closed. Her arms were burnt pretty badly and she kept whispering something over and over. Mercedes moved a little closer to hear her, and with shock and a feeling of dread filling her heart she realised at the same time that the girl was _Rachel_ and she kept whispering Finn's name.

"Rachel! Rachel babe I'm here! I'll be there at the hospital as well!" She screamed just as the ambulance doors slammed shut. Immediately after Rachel, Mercedes saw Finn being shoved onto a stretcher (she could tell by the boy's sheer height). One of his arms and both his legs were in a bad way, and his eyes were firmly shut. She began to run after his stretcher, but before she got there the ambulance drove off.

"Fuck!" She swore, tears leaking from her eyes. Mercedes was never one to cuss, but all morals were forgotten at a time like this. Just as she was about to head back to Kurt, Mercedes heard two paramedics talking to a teacher.

"We found two of them in the choir room. They were holding hands, curled up together. There was another boy found dead straight off near science, he was half way to dead but the ceiling collapse destroyed all chances of survival. Three people in the canteen are dead, another girl in the gym and two boys in the changing rooms are critical. That's all we've found so far, but there's suspected to be ten more casualties..." Mercedes turned away, unable to hear anymore and she ran back to Kurt.

"Finn... he's in a bad way, Kurt. So's Rachel. We need to get the hell to the hospital!" She screamed. The rest of the glee club looked up in horror, and then they began to talk frantically, working out ideas of what to do.

"Mercedes, you need to get home! This isn't healthy, this isn't safe, you need to get home and change and let them have time with their families. Then we can go back later, I promise you!" Kurt's big eyes stared into hers, filled with promises.

"You promise?" She asked him, her lips quivering a little and they did their secret handshake.

"I promise, but right now? I need to get home, for Carole..." He looked at her, showing signs of vulnerability for the first time.

"It's gonna be okay, Kurt!" She promised the small boy.

"I hope so..." His voice trailed off, and together they began to walk away from the rest of the gleeks. Nobody questioned their disappearance, too caught up in their own conversations.

When Mercedes got in, no one was at home – her dad at his job as a dentist and her mom working at a charity shop in town. She locked the door behind her, and slumped to the floor, sobbing until she had no more tears left. When she felt exhausted from the sheer emotion of the day, she staggered up and leant against the door. She thought about being eleven, and not understanding about hell and hell-on-earth. Mercedes – at the age of sixteen – realised properly for the first time what the world was like and what the word hell actually meant. Her body shaking from the horror of the day, she clambered up the stairs and collapsed on her bed, her body racking with sobs yet to be cried once more.

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_Review please? :)_


	5. Read Between The Lines

_Thank you so much for all your kind reviews! Made my week! Please continue to tell me what you think :D! My exams are now over, and after a celebratory weekend, I should now be able to update more. This chapter should explain Finn, Rachel and Matt's situations. Enjoy :) _

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and how was i to know, that a year ago, i'd need to read between the lines, and every lie..._

Bright lights. Low voices. People moving around him. Sharp pains in his chest. He tried to open his eyes, but the light was too damned bright for him to keep them open, so he snapped them shut again. Was he dead? Pain. No, Finn was sure you didn't feel pain when you were dead. He needed to move, but all of a sudden his body felt like a metal block. He couldn't even twitch his torso. Helplessness. If he could just move _something_ so he could regain the sense of being alive he loved so much. _Concentrate Finn._ With all the power he had, he moved his finger, a little twitch. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and a sharp pain ran through his chest. He breathed in sharply and wrenched his eyes open and suddenly there were people and more movement and something grasping his hand.

"Finn?" He heard his name being called by the woman holding his hand. It sounded distorted and oh so _far away_.

"Finn?" The woman repeated, her voice a little more frantic.

He blinked and focussed his view more.

"Mom!" He whispered, his voice hoarse and sore. He pointed to his voice, frantically and like most moms, she understood what he needed and grabbed him a glass of water. He gulped it frantically, relieved when the cool drink seemed to sooth his throat. His brain began to focus more, and images flashed through his brain. Red hot flames, Matt and Rachel, black, choking smoke, his hand melting on the door handle, finding Rachel, the door collapsing, holding Rachel...

"Better baby?" Carole said after he'd finished his drink.

A doctor appeared at the door then, smiling at Finn coming round.

"Hello Finn! Glad to see you're awake! You've been through a lot buddy, so I advise you get some sleep right now. It's about 11pm, so in the morning you'll be undertaking some tests. I just need to check your heart rates, then you can go back to sleep!" The cheery doctor grabbed the heart rate monitor and strapped it to his wrist. After a minute, he read the monitor, grinned again and gathered his equipment.

"Looks like you're going to be fine, Finn! I'll see you in the morning, then we can talk about the next steps and treatments. One more thing, don't leave your bed tonight. Your burns are pretty bad, even if you are going to recover!" He left the room.

Finn looked at his mom, then spoke.

"Where's Rachel and Matt?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

His mom's face scrunched. Carole had always prided herself on being one hundred percent honest with her boy. After her husband died in the war, the only thing she had left was her son. He was the only reminder she had of her perfect husband. So she decided Finn Hudson would always know the god honest truth. That Finn needed to know what his dad had done for the world. And nothing changed, not even in situations like this: Carole would be honest now like the past sixteen years.

"Rachel's ill... very ill. In hospital. Matt's... not been accounted for yet," Carole faltered telling Finn the truth about Matt. She tried to convince herself it was good, she was doing the right thing for her son, but she couldn't bear to be honest about his death yet. Finn would take it really hard, and Carole couldn't bear to tell him the truth when he was already so ill.

"Accounted for? Mom, what does that mean?" Carole couldn't help but smile at Finn's weak voice. At least it meant Finn was still there.

"It means he's not been registered dead or alive," Her smile fell off her face.

Finn tried to jump out of the bed, but pain struck him hard and he began to cough hard. For the first time he noticed dressings on his hands and legs.

"Finn! Stop being silly and sit down!" His mother scolded, like he was a little boy again.

"I need to see Rachel, Mom!" He argued back, his weak voice growing stronger.

Carole's heart broke a little bit more then. She knew that Finn was in love with Rachel. She had known since Finn rushed home one day, the biggest grin on his face saying he'd met the most amazing yet crazy girl with beautiful brown hair. Her name was Rachel. She also knew how it felt to lose the one you love the most in the world. How it felt to not know how they were, to be unsure if your reason for living was okay. But Carole knew that right now, seeing Rachel might break his heart and cause him to relapse. And again, being selfish, Carole just couldn't do that.

"You can't Finn. You're really ill yourself!" She told the boy, and his face dropped.

"Mom I don't care... I didn't care in the fire, and I sure as hell don't care now! I need to see her so I can breathe again. I love her! Mom, is that what love is? When you want to see them and be with them all day, because they make you smile? When not knowing if they're okay kills you inside and you can't breathe and it hurts _so bad!_ Because Mom, I can't sit here like this not knowing if she's okay!" He told her, a single tear falling from his eyes.

"Finn... you do realise, Rachel won't know you're there? She's in a coma, the smoke on her chest got her oxygen levels so low. Her burns are bad... she was in the fire a lot longer then you. She..." Carole broke off there, a sob rising in her chest, "Finn, it looks like she's going to die!"

Finn looked away from his mother for the first time since waking up. Huge, racking sobs were filling up his body, and if he looked at his mom, he knew they'd come pouring out. He kept looking away, gathering himself together before he slowly turned back to his mom.

"Mom?" His voice was low and weak again.

"Yeah sweetie?" She had also gathered herself together before speaking to her son again.

"Could you maybe go get a coffee or something? I'm really sleepy, I guess I've been through a lot..." He asked, faking a yawn as he spoke.

"Sure, baby. I'll go home and change and be back in an hour. I love you," The woman, tired and downcast, left the room.

Finn watched his mom leaving, following her footsteps with his eyes all the way down the corridor. Then, he sobbed, loud racking sobs that filled the silent room. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep, where fitful dreams of Rachel would follow him.

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_Hope you enjoyed! Please review? :)_


	6. My Dreams Are Haunted

_Thank you for your response guys :)! Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit of a filler. It explains where Artie and Tina have been, and explains what sort of state Rachel's in. It might get a little confusing after the Tartie scene, so if you want me to re-write it, I will, just review and tell me if it's bad this chapter. It's not up to standard I don't think but... I hope you enjoy x.

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everytime i fall asleep my dreams are haunted, and every time i close my eyes i'm not alone..._

Artie and Tina sat on his sofa, hands entwined and watching the news. After Kurt and Mercedes had rushed off, they thought the best thing to do was to go home and wait everything out. The waiting had been silent, awkward and painful. Artie couldn't keep himself from shaking and Tina was sat in shock, as if she still hadn't accepted the situation. They just sat in silence, until the special bulletin came on.

"_Police and Ambulance on the scene say the cause of the fire at McKinley High seems to be arson... There are said to be two pupils critically injured, four with minor injuries and seven dead..."_

The images of the dead pupils flashed upon the screen and a slow tear rolled down Artie's cheek. Tina choked, her sob stuck in her throat and she buried her face into Artie's shoulder, tears flooding her face.

"_Jessica Connor. Rachel Lewis. Jacob Ben Israel. Azimio Earl. Lauren Avendio. Aidan Jones. Matt Rutherford. _

_Please take a moment of silence to remember those innocent children who have lost their lives in this horrific tragedy."_

Artie looked at the screen, no sign of emotion on his face. Tina made soft snuffling noises into his jumper, as if she was trying to calm herself down.

"_Thank you. A fire system failure is being held responsible for the loss of such young life today in Lima. As we close tonight's 11 o'clock news, we beg of you to check your own fire systems at home. Lives can be saved, and today at McKinley, the message has never been reinforced more strongly. Goodnight, Ohio."_

Artie just sat there and Tina eventually stopped crying. She looked up at Artie, her face blotchy with tears and he turned the television off.

"What do we do now?" She asked, in a soft, broken voice.

"We need to think ourselves lucky. At least Rachel and Finn aren't dead as well," His cool tone replied. His words cut Tina right down to her heart, as if he didn't even care about their lost friend, never mind their other six classmates. She looked at him, hurt.

"Don't you care? Ma- Matt's dead, Artie!" She stuttered, accidentally for the first time in her life and she felt a sob rise in her throat.

"It could have been worse."

Tina looked at him, horrified. This wasn't Artie! He was like... a _robot?_

"Well, to be honest with you _Artie,_" Her voice was sarcastic, "I don't think it could have been much worse, losing Matt! And if you don't share the same opinion because 'it could have been worse' I don't think I should be here. I should go, it's late," Tina broke into a sob and left, slamming the door behind her.

Artie sat there, unmoving. Her words had gone straight through him, as if he hadn't even realised she was there. He sat there for hours, looking at a black television screen and thinking. Thinking about his parents, and his life, and the car accident and the fire. By the time his mom and dad crashed in at around 2am, after taking an emergency flight back to Ohio to make sure their son was okay, his thoughts had begun too much. He didn't acknowledge his parents and wheeled to his room, where he lowered himself in to his bed and began to sob into his pillow.

When he finally fell asleep, for a few uncomfortable hours, he dreamt of fires and losing Tina and his family. He woke up with cold tears on his face.

* * *

The sun shone brightly, the sky was a baby blue and there were no clouds to be seen. They lay on the grass together, fingers intertwined and Rachel's head on Finn's bare chest. She loved his chest: his bronzed abs and his smooth skin felt so nice under her fingers.

With his spare hand, he stroked her hair. She liked it when he did that, it made her feel loved and cared for. She could hear his heart beating and his soft breaths every couple of seconds.

"Finn?" Her voice was soft, as if she didn't want to ruin the fragility of the moment.

"Yeah, Rach?" His voice was quiet too, as if he understood how perfect this moment really was.

"I love you too," It had taken her almost all of the summer, but she finally got her perfect moment. Finn couldn't have said it at a better time, just before Regionals and it had meant so much to Rachel. Now, Rachel knew was the right time to say it to Finn.

Finn sat up, bringing Rachel with him. He looked deep into her eyes, as if trying to convey all the love he felt for her in one look. She felt shivers of anticipation tingle up her spine and it was if all her senses were heightened as Finn finally took her face with his hands. Before now, she'd never noticed how big his hands were, how amazing they were. She grinned as Finn placed his lips on hers, soft and beautiful at first. It lasted forever and Rachel finally got her perfectly romantic kiss. They broke apart for air, and then Rachel's lips were on Finn's, more fiercely and loving then before. They stayed on the park all night, kissing and being Finn and Rachel together without any worries in the world...

* * *

She couldn't open her eyes. She tried, she tried _so hard, _but she just couldn't open her eyes. She heard her dads, but their voices sounded light years away. She could feel people moving around her, poking and prodding and scanning her, but she couldn't do _anything_ to attract their attention. She wanted to scream and wail and let out all this pent up emotion. Rachel wanted ask so much, about Finn and Matt and New Directions and if everyone was okay... But she couldn't, because she was trapped, trapped in her own body – a prisoner. Pain hit her again then, like a wave washing over her body and the little contact she had with the outside world was took away from her. The darkness enveloped her, and she became cocooned in her body once more.


	7. Right Back Where You Wanted

_I am so, so, so sorry. I am the worst updater ever, feel free to kill me now. But I'm back with this update. Not sure if you'll enjoy it, but I figured this was necessary. This chapter, again, fills you in with where everyone is, etc. I will try (promise) to update again in the next week, but this is my final two weeks in school and obviously it's intense and busy. I am working on a oneshot as well, so I'll tell you about that when it's up (Finchel of course)!_

_Oh, and thank you, so, so, so much for the reviews! Ninety-five? I love you guys! So, I hope you enjoy. Thank you (L)._

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And every time I cry I'm right back where you wanted..._

Mr Schue walked along to the choir room, whistling a show tune like most mornings. He smiled and waved at Miss Pillsbury when he saw her, his mood dampening a little when she turned away, a hurt look on her face. He waved it off as PMS and continued his journey. When he got there, none of the New Directions were there yet, even though Mr Schue himself was late. Again, confused but not letting anything get him down, he placed his briefcase on the Piano and began to sort his music sheets out.

Then he heard a bang and screaming – screaming that echoed on and on and on... That was when he realised something was seriously wrong. Frozen still with fear, he heard the door open and soft footsteps padding along the floor and a scarily cold voice.

"You... You... You..."

The twelve pupils traipsed in, their eyes rolled into the backs of their heads, scalded hands and dusty faces. Rachel, her hair dishevelled and sticky with blood stepped forward and collapsed on the floor. She shook, screaming as if in massive agony and then Mr Schue realised where he had heard the screaming before.

"Rachel... Are you okay?" Mr Schue's voice shook with confusion and fear.

"You did this – YOU!" Her hysterical voice rang through the room; the other eleven pupils still chanting that same word over and over. A tear leaked from Mr Schue's eye and he pushed it away angrily, trying frantically to help the screaming girl on the floor. Her pale skin changed from perfect and unmarked to scalded and burnt. Her head began to bleed again, making a little puddle of blood around her head. She let out one final scream of pain and then lay still, her entire body now covered in burns and dusty with soot.

Finn came up to him, uttering soft violent words repeatedly that Mr Schue found initially hard to decipher in his distressed state.

"You could have checked they were all safe... I thought you were a father figure to me – I was wrong. You let me down Mr Schue!" His words were sharp and soft at the same time. When Finn closed his mouth, Matt fell to the floor, screaming and Finn followed suit. The rest of the club kept chanting and chanting and coming closer and closer and Mr Schue didn't know what to do and he wanted to scream...

* * *

He sat up suddenly in his bed, sweat pouring from his head and his hair stuck up in random places as if he had been tossing and turning his sleep. _It wasn't his fault, was it? What more could he have done?_ Mr Schue looked at the clock by his bed – 4.30am. The images of Matt, Finn and Rachel ran through his heads, stuck on repeat and tears leaked from his eyes once more. Leaning over to his desk, he grabbed his mobile and left a message on the healthy glee club members' phones. They were going to check out the situation – if only to rest Mr Schue's mind. His finger hovered over the call button as he reached Emma's name. He didn't know what to do... she had her dentist boyfriend now, but he'd never wanted to talk to her more. Deciding against calling, he got out of bed and padded to the living room. Will knew he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight.

* * *

They met at the hospital at around midday, all of the club looking worried and some downright awful. Kurt looked a ghostly white, Mercedes and Tina looked shell shocked, Santana and Brittany had red ringed eyes but otherwise looked normal, Artie looked like he hadn't slept a wink, Quinn and Puck looked like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders and Mike was a mess. His clothes were creased and ruffled, his eyes had massive bags beneath them and his hair was sticking out all over the place. He arrived last and when he did, Mr Schue wrapped in a big hug. He received a small smile for this and then Mike traipsed over to the rest of the group. Puck put an arm around him and Mercedes gave him a massive hug. Kurt tried to fix his hair for him and eventually Mike looked a little better. There was a silence as the guys stopped fixing up Mike, then he burst into tears.

"Matt was my best friend... Since kindergarden..." He hiccupped and sobbed and everyone paid him a respectful silence whilst he gathered himself together.

"We know, dude. We know," Puck said comfortingly and he took him away from everybody else as Mr Schue went to discover where Rachel and Finn's room were.

"Okay guys, listen up!" Mercedes thought that Mr Schue looked slightly ill today. His eyes were heavy and down, and he needed a shave.

"Rachel's on Floor 6, Room 4. We can visit her – but only two people at her time, and her dads might be there. So we have to respect that, alright guys? Finn's on the same floor but Room 10. He is up for visitors and is awake, but is still weak. Let's go!" He led them up the six flights of stairs, taking them to a waiting room.

"Alright guys, who want to go see Finn first and who wants to go see Rachel?" Mr Schue asked. It was decided that Artie and Kurt would go see Rachel first and Puck, Quinn and Mike would go see Finn. The rest of the club settled down and waited.

Kurt pushed Artie down the corridor as quietly as possibly, but the rubber wheels still sounded too squeaky and loud on the floor. They were silent, avoiding each others eyes until they reached her door. Her dads weren't there – probably gone home to change – and the room was silent except for the beeping of the machines checking her heartbeat. Artie stretched his arm out, his hand hovering above the handle and for the first time since they had left the other glee clubbers, he looked at Kurt.

"I don't know if I can go in there!" His voice was quiet and filled with emotion.

"We need to do this... for Rachel," Kurt replied in a monotone.

"I hate hospitals – ever since the three months stretch ending with me and a wheelchair," Artie replied, his eyes back down to the floor. Kurt felt a surge of guilt at the boy's words, but he couldn't think of what to do.

"We need to go in there," He stated, grabbing the handle and pushing the door open. He wheeled Artie to one side of the bed and then walked around to the other, settling down in the cold, plastic chairs.

After a few minutes to compose himself by looking at the door handle, Kurt pulled his eyes to Rachel's bed. Her eyes were shut and her legs and arms were wrapped in bandages – presumably from the burns. There was an oxygen mask over her mouth and another big bandage wrapped around her head. She looked so weak – fragile – and nothing like the Rachel Kurt knew from glee rehearsal: bossy and self-centred. Kurt took hold of her hand softly, and whispered in her ear, so quietly even Artie couldn't hear it.

"_Rachel. I'm so sorry this has happened to you. I'm so sorry that we never got on – I never hated you, but I guess two divas clash! I hope, with all my heart and designer clothes that you get better soon. I would seriously sell them all on E-Bay just for your recovery. For a loss. I'll think about you always until you recover – you're Rachel Berry, it's impossible for you to consider losing. Now you're in a coma, I guess I can share a secret with you I can tell nobody else. Defying Gravity sing off (it was amazing, huh?). I blew the note. Just in case you ever wondered. Sleep tight, Rachel. I'll be back soon..."_

Kurt stopped speaking, but kept onto her hand and looked at Artie. He looked frozen, with upset and pain. Kurt realised it was probably the best time to leave, so he put Rachel's hand down and walked over to Artie, giving him a hug as the boy burst into tears. Wheeling him out of the room, he passed him a tissue and took him to the men's room, so he could cry in peace.

"Want me to stay?" Kurt asked tenderly.

Artie just shook his head viciously and Kurt walked backwards, leaving him alone. A fresh wave of sobs choked him up and he put his head against the cold bathroom wall. Artie hated hospitals. And Artie hated seeing one of his best friends – no matter how annoying – in as much as pain as he was once in. He stayed in the bathroom a long time, dabbing his face with scratchy toilet paper and washing his face until he looked respectful. When Mr Schue asked where Artie was, Kurt replied with a cool "Bathroom" and sunk into a chair. Nobody probed him further.

* * *

Puck and Quinn held hands as they walked to Finn's room; Quinn linking Mike also for the comfort and the friendship. Puck looked through the window before entering and saw Finn looking at the small television on the ceiling with a bored expression on his face. He looked empty. Quinn slowly opened the door, and Finn didn't take his eyes off the television, as if he didn't care who was there.

"Mom I told you..." He said in a monotone, yawning a little.

Puck coughed and Mike shuffled nervously.

"Oh, hi guys!" Finn said, sitting up a little in his bed. Puck looked him over, taking in the bandages on his hands and legs, and the monitors attached to his arm. Finn saw his line of vision and waved it off.

"This? I'm fine, I'm fine..." He grinned, "So how is everyone? Man, Mike, are you okay?"

Mike looked confused and Puck grabbed him by the shoulder to offer him support. Quinn took a seat by the bed, leaning over to Finn.

"Course he's not, Finn... I don't think anybody is, especially not in glee!" Quinn said worriedly.

Finn's eyes glazed over and he looked at his hands, as if embarrassed about what he was about to ask.

"Is Matt okay? Has he been found? And is Rachel out of the coma?" Finn's voice was slightly panicked and his cheeks red with worry. Mike flinched at the comment, Puck grabbing him once more and a tear ran down Quinn's cheek.

"What's up?" Finn asked, a sadness to his tone, "He's dead isn't he... oh my god, he's dead!" Finn grew more hysterical as he spoke, his sore hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Yes," Puck stated, forever the brave man as Quinn searched for tissues in her bag to pass to Mike and the confused boy in front of her. A tear leaked down Finn's cheek, but he brushed it away impatiently, as if he hadn't understood what they had just said.

"Rachel. How's Rachel?" He said with a tone of desperation, as if that was all he could think about.

"She's stable," Quinn said. Mike barged out of the room at this point, too upset to continue with the conversation. Puck and Quinn both flinched a little as the door banged, but Finn looked as if he wasn't really paying attention anymore.

"Thank you..." Finn said, softly and Quinn thought it best if she left.

"I'll leave you two alone..." She bowed out of the room with a nod, and Puck came and sat in the chair. Finn's eyes seemed to clear at this moment, and he sat up properly to talk to him.

"Listen to me, Puck!" Finn's voice took on a steely tone.

"I'm listening..." Puck replied nervously.

"I need to see Rachel and you're going to help me get out!" Finn ordered.

"Finn. You're being stupid – just ask your doctor!" Puck decided to be the sensible one, just for once.

"He won't let me – he says I'm not well enough to go yet. But I'm not going to get better until I see her Puck, I'm really not!" Desperation rang through every word.

"I'll think about it," was all Puck would say.

"Thank you," Finn replied, his eyes glazed over again.

"Are you okay dude?" Puck asked, confused about his friends conflicting emotions.

"I'm fine, Puck, just fine..."

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed, please review :)_


	8. Try To Drown You Out

_I'm sorry! I've finished school at last, but my laptop is broken so I lost the chapter. After rewriting it, here it is! I hope you enjoy it, it is a heavily based Finchel chapter so Finchel fans specifically, I hope you like it. For non Finchel fans, there is slight Puck/Finn friendship so I hope that satisfies you! The song in this chapter is, When I Look At You - Miley Cyrus; I don't own it! Thank you so much to my immense reviewers, (MaroonFox, you review everytime without fail and you're incredible!) and everyone who's put this on alert. I love you all very, very much. Enjoy... _

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I try to drown you out, so down goes another one…_

Rachel lay there, silent on the bed when Puck wheeled Finn into her room. It had taken more than a little persuasion from the nurse to borrow a wheelchair so Finn could move around the hospital. After feeding her some bullshit lie about how 'it was bad for Finn to stay in one room constantly' and how 'Finn really wanted to go to the garden and sit outside a while' the nurse had reluctantly given in and brought them a wheelchair. Puck visited three days in a row at midday (school was closed until future notice) and smiled at the suspicious nurse. Together they'd managed to help Finn into the wheelchair – it was hard to move a 6ft 3 dude, even with muscles like Puck's – and together they were met with the same empty thank you from Finn. From there, Puck took him to the garden for an hour and they would sit in silence, breathing in fresh air (this was important, ever since the fire Finn would get panicky about not being able to breathe). Then, at 1pm, met by the suspicious nurse, Puck would return Finn to his room, promising to visit again tomorrow. On the fourth day, the nurse wasn't hovering outside the door. Sending a questioning look towards Finn, he was met with a curt,

"She's not in today. Day off. It's time."

Puck responded with a swift nod, got Finn into the chair by some miracle and wheeled him down the corridor to Rachel's room. The only noise between them was the squeaking of the wheels on the floor and the beeping of monitors from other patient's rooms. When they reached the room, Puck stood in front of the door, stopping Finn's eager hand from pushing the handle down.

"Dude, pre-warning. She's not Rachel right now, okay? She's ill, really ill and to be honest, nothing I say can prepare you for what you're gonna see. Don't take it too hard, she's just in a coma," Puck tried to think up some words to make the sight of Rachel easier for an already crushed Finn to cope with, but nothing worked. He was met by angry eyes – Puck didn't know if this was a good thing or not, depending on how emotionless his eyes had been recently – and some cutting words.

"Douche-bag! I know I'm thick, okay, but I know she's not my fucking Rachel now. Just let me the fuck in and shut the fuck up, dickhead!" Finn spat at him.

Even though Puck was a badass, his words hurt – because for the first time in his life, excluding babygate, Finn meant them. He swallowed the return insult and pushed open the door. When Finn gasped, he tried not to spit back 'told you so' and instead just pushed him all the way up to the bed, muttering a strict 'ten minutes, I'll be outside'. He left the room, shutting the door quietly and he went to sit on a chair in the waiting room.

Finn sat there, staring at Rachel's small body. She looked so fragile, and he just wanted take away all the tubes, heal all her wounds, pick her up and take her away from all this pain. Her eyes were shut, her hair lank and greasy and scraped back. If she knew what she looked like, she'd be appalled. Finn let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair… if only there was something he could do.

Finn knew he had been damn straight horrible to everyone over the last couple of days. He had stared blankly at his mom, ignoring her questions and her concerns. Often after she left, he could hear her sob in the corridor. He had ignored Puck, and the only times he had spoken to him he'd insulted him angrily. Quinn and Mike had never returned after their first visit. Mr Schue had popped in once as had the rest of glee, but they also had received the same treatment as everyone else – cold eyes and empty words. It wasn't that Finn had wanted to push everybody away, it was just he hadn't know how to deal with losing one of his best friends – someone he'd known since kindergarden, and his sort-of girlfriend who he loved more than anybody else. Everyone knew it had been a matter of time before they'd got together formally – they'd been making out and sharing 'I love you's' since Regionals, last year. Now, almost a year on she was in a coma and he was this angry, broken person who spat words at people to make them hurt. The only person he couldn't bring himself to be angry at was Rachel.

Rachel was the only thing that had kept him going over the last five days. At first, he just wanted to give up and let his broken body go because he'd failed as a hero. He'd wanted to live up to his dad, and he'd let him down. But, what if Rachel woke up and he wasn't there? Or what if his dad would be more disappointed that he'd given up? So he kept going and romantic thoughts of Rachel waking up and kissing him as he sat by her bedside got him through the sleepless nights and nightmares filled with him choking on thick black smoke and being burnt by red hot flames…

But those thoughts were over now. As he looked at her in her bed, crumpled and broken, Finn believed he'd failed her. That she was never going to wake up. And he didn't want to be there as she died – he wasn't that strong anymore. Instead, he decided to say goodbye. With his unburned hand he took her bandaged ones and spoke to Rachel and the empty room.

"Rachel… I'm sorry. I've let you down. I never asked you out in case we ruined what we had, and now this has happened. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't save you in time, that I collapsed in that room. If I hadn't, maybe you'd have survived? Maybe both you and Matt would have survived; maybe I'd have got you out! But we're here now, in hospital and I'm sorry that you're like this and I'm okay. I'll never forget you, ever! I love you Rachel, so much. Glee brought me to you, so I'll never give it up and that's a promise for you babe. God Rach – I love you! I don't know if can bring myself to come back here. I'll try Rach babe, I'll try every day I can until… you wake up or you… don't. But I've never been as strong as you, so I can't promise anything anymore. Anyway, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can I don't want to make you sad… I figured I could sing you a song. Remember that song you played me a couple of weeks ago? I said it was cheesy and pathetic, but you said it was deep and meaningful even though you didn't appreciate the singer all that much. But it suits this situation, so I'm going to sing it you; I got a nurse to get me the sheet music for it, so here goes…

_Everybody needs inspiration,  
Everybody needs a song.  
A beautiful melody,  
When the night's so long.  
Cause there is no guarantee,  
That this life is easy._

_Yeah when my world is falling apart.  
When there's no light to break up the dark,  
That's when I, I, I look at you.  
When the waves are flooding the shore,__  
and I can't find my way home anymore.  
That's when I, I, I look at you._

_When I look at you,__  
I see forgiveness,__  
I see the truth.  
You love me for who I am,  
Like the stars hold the moon,  
Right there where they belong.__  
and I know I'm not alone._

_Yeah when my world is falling apart,  
When there's no light to break up the dark,  
That's when I, I, I look at you.  
When the waves are flooding the shore,__  
and I can't find my way home anymore,  
That's when I, I, I look at you._

_You, appear just like a dream to me.__  
Just like kaleidoscope colors,  
That cover me,  
All I need,  
Every breath that I breathe,  
Don't you know you're beautiful!_

__

Yeah

_When the waves are flooding the shore,__  
and I can't find my way home anymore,  
That's when I, I, I look at you.  
I look at you, Yeah, Woah._

_You, appear just like a dream to me."_

Finn wiped his cheek, brushing the tears away once more. He softly squeezed her hand and finished what he wanted to say.

"Rachel, if you know I'm here, can't you just squeeze my hand? Please Rachel, this is killing me, please Rachel…"

Finn waited with baited breath, but there was no movement. A sob ran up his throat and he coughed it away.

"I love you…" He breathed, and he put Rachel's hand back on the bed. Finn wheeled himself to the door, glancing back at Rachel one more time. As he opened the door, he couldn't help but think he'd seen Rachel's eye twitch. _Finn, wishful thinking_, his brain responded, and he wheeled himself to where a tired Puck sat slumped in an uncomfortable seat.

"We cool, dude?" Memories from sectionals flashed through Finn's brain as he approached Puck, and he knew this was the time he needed to start repairing what he'd done to him over the last few days.

"I'm sorry," Finn softly said, extending his non injured hand to Puck. The mohawked boy looked at him, and just nodded.

"We're cool, dude," He took his hand. Puck didn't want to laugh at him for being a pansy. Things like that weren't funny anymore. The exhausted boy stood up, grabbing Finn's chair and wheeling him down to his room.

"Remember douche, we've been to the garden…" Puck whispered hastily to Finn.

"I know fatass!" Finn's retort was echoed with a smirk, and they laughed for a moment, cutting it short when they remembered the fire and Matt and Rachel's coma. Guilt flooded the two, and they continued walking down the corridor in their own thoughts.

* * *

Rachel couldn't believe it when she heard the squeak of wheels on the floor of her room. Her initial thoughts were that Artie had visited, but when the person in the wheelchair took her sore, bandaged hands, holding them tenderly, she knew it wasn't.

When she realized it was Finn speaking, her heart nearly shattered. All these words about how sorry he was and how much he loved her… it was as if each time he said a new word he was stabbing a knife into her back. Rachel had never concentrated so hard on trying to move a hand before. She was trying to get some movement to happen, when all at once Finn's beautiful voice cut through. He was singing to her! And not only was he singing to her, he was singing one of her all time favourite songs that she'd played him just weeks before. She couldn't believe he'd remembered! Rachel wanted to cry happy tears so badly, but she couldn't move one inch. When he finished the song, she wanted to clap, to jump out of this ridiculous bed and hug him, and kiss him.

And finally, when his desperate words echoed around the room, about how much he wanted her to squeeze his hand, Rachel's heart just broke and she'd never wanted to move more in her life. She felt him let go of her hand and place it on the bed. She heard him squeak across the room and pause at the door. Forcing all her concentration on some form of movement, she felt her eye twitch. But Finn, Finn hadn't seen it, as she heard the door shut quietly behind him.

She would have sobbed if it was possible, as the one person she loved most in the world hadn't seen the fact that Rachel was very much alive in her broken body. But, she was exhausted by the slight movement, and she felt herself slipping into the depths of sleep.

Three good things had come from Finn's visit – she knew he loved her well and truly, she knew she had regained some form of movement, only if it was her eyes and she knew Finn was alive. Inwardly smiling, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed :)! If you have any ideas, please tell me in a review because I've decided to take all ideas on board! So, yeah, please review :)?_


	9. Down Goes Another One

_Quick update from me, woop! Thank you for all the reviews and alerts again :D 130 reviews, I am so touched! Anyway, this is a filler, events are taking a drastic turn next chapter; some happy others... not so happy. There are some hints at that in this chapters! Enjoy my lovely readers :) xx_

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(down goes another one)

Tina woke up suddenly, as she had for the previous six nights following the fire. She could still feel the last of her screams scratching at her throat; she brought her hand to her brow and felt beads of sweat there. Turning over on her bed, she pushed the covers away from her as it reminded her of the immense heat she felt on Monday at the fire. On usual Saturday nights, Tina would go around to Artie's and they would watch a film together: one week, Artie's choice, the next Tina's. This week it was Artie's turn to pick the movie, but he hadn't rung like he usually did, so she didn't go round. Now, looking at her alarm clock and seeing it was 3am, the only person she wanted to see was him – even if they hadn't spoken since after the fire, when they'd argued about Matt.

Reaching over for her Blackberry, she typed in a text to her boyfriend.

"Are you still awake? – T x"

Seconds later her phone buzzed.

"Of course I am, what's up? – A x"

"I can't sleep. Can I come over? – T x"

"Sure. Haven't seen you for a week :(! Dad's out. See you in ten minutes? – A x"

"I'll be there soon as – T x"

Changing into some suitable clothes, Tina grabbed her phone and rushed to her car, fumbling with the keys. She set off, cutting down the backstreets to get there as soon as possible. When she arrived, she shut her door as quietly as possible and sneaked up the drive to Artie's house. He was on the porch – it seemed he was waiting for her – and she bent down to kiss him softly before sitting next to him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Tina turned to Artie and took his hand.

"I know we've left so many things unsaid but I just want you to know I'm sorry for the argument and I forgive you as well…" Her voice trailed off as she looked up at him.

"What argument babe? We've been fine?" His voice was filled with confusion, and it sent tingles of dread down her spine.

"The argument… after the fire?" Her voice grew slightly higher, unusually high for Tina.

"I don't know what argument you're talking about? What fire? Tina, have you been sleeping and eating okay?" Artie's voice was still calm, but filled full of concern for his girlfriend.

"Artie! The fire at McKinely! Matt died? Finn's still in hospital… Rachel's in a coma. Don't play with me, Artie, you can't forget this!" Tina glanced at him with panic stricken eyes.

"Tina, this joke isn't funny!" Artie folded his arms and glared at her.

"You… you really don't remember?" She said softly, tears leaking from her eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! Matt and I played COD together just yesterday! And I saw Finn in the mall on Tuesday, I'm sure of it! I've been at school all week also, how can it be burnt down!" Artie shook his head with confusion; his eyes looked wild and were struck with terror.

"Like this!" Tina said determinedly, and she grabbed his chair and wheeled him to her car. He lifted himself up and pushed himself into the seat, and after putting the chair in the boot she ran around to her side of the car and slid in.

"Ready?" She said, wiping away the last of the tears.

"As I'll ever be…" Artie said, pushing his glasses further up his nose and watching the road ahead.

The journey was silent and short lived as Artie lived only mere minutes from school. Tina pulled up in a nearby side street, then helped Artie back into his chair and wheeled him towards the school's old parking lot. Instead of being littered with cars, it was littered with mounds of flowers, some rotting from the rain. Artie's face was one of pure horror and as Tina wheeled him to the old site, he witnessed for himself the old science building – now ashes, and the remains of some of the classrooms. He leant over to one of the old bouquets of flowers and flicked the card over so he could read it.

"Matt, our little football star! You were beautiful baby, at football and dance. You'll be in our hearts always. We love you – Mom and Dad x"

Artie's head span and all the memories rushed back – memories of the news story and his bitchy remarks towards Tina and Rachel's body in the hospital bed and the scratchy bathroom toilet roll where he'd cried and cried… and then somehow forgotten. He choked on his sobs and Tina wrapped him in a hug. The couple stayed there for what felt like hours, hugging on a bed of rotten flowers until Tina pulled away and grabbed his chair.

"I'll take you home… I'm sorry I had to show you this," Her voice was hollow and her tears were cold on her face. She didn't have the heart to brush them away anymore.

* * *

Puck lay off his bed, doing weights. His arms ached from the unbelievably heavy dumbbells, his abs ached from all the sit ups and the push ups and his heart ached for Matt and for Finn and even for Berry. He'd stopped seeing the rest of glee club, the exception being Finn and Quinn.

He only saw Finn because he was in debt to him. Puck had owed him since babygate and this was his way of paying him back. Even though he prided himself on being tough and badass, Puck still believed in returning favours and repaying people when necessary. Puck owed Finn, and no matter how douchey Finn was to him, he deserved it. Also, he missed his best friend and his best friend missed Berry. Puck was the only one who had the guts to take him to see Berry every day. So, Puck continued to see Finn.

And Quinn… Quinn was like Puck's shining light. He never thought he'd be so affected by this, but losing Matt and nearly losing Finn had taken a mass toll on Puck. He was so tired and felt so _heavy_ he could barely breathe unless he was near Quinn. She was so strong after she'd survived those first few hours and she'd been there for Puck through the late night phone calls and lunch dates at Breadsticks.

When Quinn couldn't be with him because she was meeting up with Shelby to see Beth, or because she was out with Santana and Brittany or Mercedes, Puck worked out. The pain of pushing himself that little bit too far whilst training helped him forget… forget almost everything. He lifted the heaviest dumbbell one final time, then dropped it on the floor. As soon as he dropped it, his phone started playing Beth by Kiss, meaning Quinn was calling.

"Hey baby!" Puck spoke into the phone.

"Hi Puck!" Quinn's soft voice echoed down the phone.

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to meet somewhere…"

"Babe, I was just working out, if you give me an hour I'll be ready then…"

"Oh. Doesn't matter babe, meeting up with Shelby to see how Beth went on at swimming today at three. I'll talk to you later?" Quinn's voice suddenly sounded distant down the phone.

"Babe, never mind talk I'll see you later!"

"Alright Puck! See you at Lima Park at eight?"

"Yeah babe, see you! I love you,"

"I love you too,"

Puck heard the phone click off and he felt confusion at the call. Quinn had sounded so happy, to really distant, then happy again. He made a mental note to check that out later, then he began to put away his gym equipment. As soon as Quinn's beautiful voice had vanished from the phone, he felt empty inside and his troubles began to come back. Sighing heavily, he put away the last of the dumbbells and decided to go for a shower. Perhaps the warm water would wash away his worries for a little while until eight…

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Hope you enjoyed, please review :)?


	10. Living Fast, Dying Young

_This is the shortest chapter I've done, but there is a reason for that. I figured, as this chapter is **very** powerful, it's best left on it's own. Warning to you now, I don't want to spoil the story for you guys, but there is adult themes such as suicide, self harm and upset in this chapter. Thank you to all the readers though for sticking with me this far! :). If you fancy reading a fluffier piece, head over to my profile where there is a fluff fic called 'Summer Breeze'. I'm planning on making it into a fic about a Finchel summer, so check it out :). Thank you for all the support so far, and just a reminder, adult themes ahead...

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Living fast, dying young..._

At seven, Puck began to get ready, jumping into some jeans and a shirt. Quinn appreciated it when he made the effort to look nice, and because she sounded so upset tonight he decided to wear his nicest clothes. His arms and abs were aching after his major work out today, but Quinn was worth everything and he'd do anything to go and see her. After his shower, he'd gone to see Finn at the hospital, bringing him down to see Berry once more. That broke his heart a little bit every time, seeing Finn's broken eyes staring down at Rachel's lifeless body (but he wouldn't tell anybody that). After a final spray of deodorant, Puck left a note for his mom telling her he'd gone out with Quinn (she was at bingo, and his sister was at her friends) and jumped into his car, racing to the park so he'd be there first for Quinn. He pulled into a parking space, jumped out the car and ran to the swings where they always seemed to meet.

When Puck got near the swings, there was a figure forlorn in the darkness, swinging softly from back to front. He got a little closer to see the figure was his own beautiful girlfriend, her blonde hair tucked behind her ears and her make up running slightly around her eyes. She looked like his own gorgeous panda, and when she saw Puck she stood up suddenly, wiping her eyes on her massive brown hoodie. Puck noticed many things wrong with this situation, and he wasn't a very observant guy. Number one, since when did Quinn where something as informal as a hoodie? Number two, Quinn hadn't cried since she gave Beth away… why was she crying? And number three, why was she here so early? Quinn was always late (or fashionably late as she called it).

"Babe!" Puck shouted across the park; Quinn looked up, startled. Thinking again, Puck decided it wasn't the best of idea, but nevertheless it had been done now, so he jogged up the path to the play park, jumped the fence and picked up his crying girlfriend. Thoughts of the events of the fire were wiped from his mind as he hugged her tightly, brushing her hair out of her eyes and setting her down on a bench so he could see her properly.

"Quinn… Quinn babe, I thought you were okay, you were so strong after the fire…" Puck sighed; how did he miss the signs that things weren't really okay?

She sobbed into his shirt, tears flowing for about ten minutes until she coughed, choked out one last sob and then took big shuddering gulps for air instead. Puck just stroked her back, waiting until she was able to speak.

She hiccupped one last time and then looked up at Puck, her big green eyes watery and sore.

"Quinn?" Puck's voice was so soft and prompted her to start speaking.

"Puck, I'm so sorry to put this on you but I had to tell someone and you're the only one I trust…" Her voice trailed off and Puck put his big hands around her petite ones.

"It's okay babe, you can tell me anything. What's up?" He tried to keep his voice steady so not to startle her or betray his true emotion: fear.

"Well, I was trying to be so strong after the fire but it didn't work; I missed Matt so much, we'd both known him since before school. And I felt so bad about Rachel even though I never really liked her, and Finn – oh my god, Finn breaks my heart, just thinking about how much he gave up for Rachel. I tried to be strong for you and I was to your face, but behind closed doors I couldn't take it…" Her voice broke again, and she nearly gave into tears but she kept blinking quickly, as if it was a defence mechanism for any stray tears.

"What did you do, Quinn?" Puck's voice was becoming increasingly shaky, but he couldn't let Quinn down now.

Quinn didn't move nor speak for several minutes. Then, she pulled up the sleeve of her left arm to show several cuts and dried blood. Puck took in a sharp intake of breath, biting the inside of his mouth to stop himself from cursing.

"I was trying to stop myself from doing it when I rang you this afternoon, but when you didn't come out I couldn't stop myself anymore…" She hung her head in shame.

"Babe, I'm so sorry I've not been there for you through this, I am so, so sorry! From now on, it's me and you against the world and there's going to be no more of this. Where's the… thing you did it with?" His voice was filled with pain and self blame.

"It's here Puck…" Quinn breathed, and she dug her hand into the hoodie pocket and brought out a piece of glass. He took it off her and threw it as far away as possible, then took Quinn into his arms once more.

"I love you baby, don't ever forget it, okay?" Puck said with force and desperation.

"I love you too, you're the only thing that's still kept me here…" She tilted her face towards him, and he pressed his lips to hers.

"Me and you against the world…" Puck repeated.

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_Thank you for reading :) Please review? :) x_


	11. Living With What You've Done

_Hi! 150 REVIEWS? That's so epic, I love you all. If we ever get to 200 reviews, I've decided that the 200th reviewer can have a say in the storyline and there will be an extra long chapter for you all - and lots and lots of cookies :D! Thank you so much :D Finchel focus chapter and Mike. Just to remind you all, this fanfic is based around Finchel, Quick, Tartie and the reactions of the glee club to the fire :) So **everybody**!Of course the fic does focus on Finchel mainly, but to be honest this fic has a while to go yet so don't worry Finchel fans, Finchel moments galore are to come... Again, thank you all and enjoy...

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But I'm living with what you've done…_

It was a week after the fire at McKinley, and Finn had finally gotten the strength to see Rachel for a third time. Her condition hadn't improved, nor worsened and Finn didn't know whether to see this as a good thing or not. He still hated how broken she looked, how fragile she was – but maybe the fact she hadn't gone yet was a good thing? Maybe she could hear him, and was holding on? Finn's own injuries weren't healing very quickly, much to his annoyance.

Whilst Finn was sat next to Rachel, holding her sore hands softly and speaking to her about the latest episode of American Idol (Rachel would not like to wake up to discover she was behind on social events), a doctor rushed in to check her heart rates and brain activity. He didn't question Finn being there, nor did he look at him and he rushed off again as quickly as he arrived.

Slightly put off by this, Finn stayed silent for a few moments, looking at Rachel's face. She was still as beautiful as ever, he thought, gazing at her lips. He wished desperately he could kiss them again and she'd wake up, like sleeping beauty. Right now, she was his own sleeping beauty, he thought to himself.

"So yeah Rach, as I was saying before the doctor came in, that girl you liked with the curly pink hair is through again, that boy who I said looked geeky has gone out. He sang some Westlife song and he was alright, but the judges didn't like it. The girl sang a Paramore song – I think it was bands week…" Finn was interrupted again when the same doctor rushed back in, grinning.

"Sir, what's going on?" Finn asked the doctor cautiously.

"Are you family? We can't release details to anyone but family members," the doctor replied.

"I'm… okay, I'm not her brother I'm her boyfriend," He said, his eyes looking hopefully towards the doctor. The doctor smiled, and then looked at the boy.

"Young love is it, son?"

"I think so!" Finn's eager voice replied, "But I'm so scared she won't wake up!"

"Well, don't go around telling anybody as I should officially be informing her parents first, but her brain activities increasing!" The doctor grinned, shaking the papers in his hand in an eccentric way.

"Is that… good?" Finn was confused.

"It's brilliant, son! It means she's coming back!" the doctor's voice was filled with enthusiasm, "I must go and get in touch with her parents, but son, don't give up hope!"

Finn grinned, a smile so big he figured it must have taken up half of his face.

"Thank you!" He smiled, and the doctor returned the smile and ran out of the room.

He turned back to Rachel, and began to speak again.

"Did you hear that Rach? You're coming back, we all have hope for you. I hope when you come back properly, you're not in too much pain and stuff. This sounds selfish but I just can't wait for you to wake up, only come back when it's natural too babe. Then, I'll be here constantly, helping you get better and being here for you. And when we get out of here, I'm gonna ask you out. Maybe take you to a play and stuff. I love you, Rachel Berry, you're my star!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he could have sworn Rachel's eye twitched.

"Rachel… Rachel? If you can hear me, I saw that!" He exclaimed excitedly.

There was a pause and the room went silent. Then, instead of her eye twitching, Rachel squeezed Finn's hand. He then did the most unlike-Finn thing and squealed.

"Babe, I'm here! You can wake up, you can do it!"

Rachel steeled herself, using all the energy she had to sit up, open her eyes. She'd been saving herself so long for this and she finally felt her body was healed enough to return to the world of the living. She kept counting herself in, focussing all her energy and might to this normally simple task. _Three... Two… One! _

"Finn…" She whispered, and the world that had been upside down for so long was suddenly taking a drastic improvement for Finn.

"Rachel! Rachel, oh my god babe, you're awake!" Finn was estatic, "Babe, let me just get your doctor!"

He wheeled himself to the corridor, fumbled with the door and spied her doctor stood by his office, reading some sort of file.

"She's awake!" He screamed, causing the doctor to look up and grin. Wheeling himself back to Rachel's bed, he shot a smile her way and she looked back, responding with a weak smile.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" He said, confidently and he leant over, placing a tender kiss on Rachel's lips. She smiled, then her eyes fluttered shut again just as the doctor reappeared.

"She's gone!" Finn spoke with dismay.

"She'll be asleep, Finn. Waking up takes a lot of energy for those reawakening from comas!" the doctor explained, whilst placing an oxygen mask over Rachel's mouth, "You might want to get back to your room, before your daily tests. Your doctor is just about to come off his lunch break now…"

"Thanks for the warning sir – no, scrap that. Thank you for everything!" Finn smiled, and wheeled himself to the door. Puck was sitting as usual in the waiting room, his arms crossed and a sad look in his eyes.

"Puck! PUCK!" Finn's excited tone caused Puck to look up in fright.

"What, douche?" Puck replied in a monotone.

"She's woke up – slightly, but she's back!" Finn grinned, and Puck smiled slightly back, the smile not reaching his eyes.

"That's brilliant, mate!" Puck said, "But let's get you back now!"

"Yeah…" Finn's voice trailed off, lost in his own thoughts.

Puck wanted to scream and shout at the unfairness of it all. Finn had just got his world back, and Puck was slowly losing his.

* * *

Mike sat in his room, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it with his left hand. Then his right. Then his left. Repetitive tasks like this distracted Mike from the grim reality of real life. It distracted him from the constant reminder that he no longer had an X-Box buddy. That he no longer had his sports buddy. That he no longer had his good, honest and pure hearted best friend. He caught the ball in his left hand. Then his right. Then he missed the ball, and it rolled to a stop under his bed. He sighed, and lent over his bed to get it. He fumbled under the bed, his hand fluttering over a mass of strange objects. He grasped for the ball, and when he found it, he yanked at it, causing a mini avalanche under his bed.

Taking a deep sigh again, he shifted himself off the bed and sat down on the floor, pushing the objects under the bed. Then he stopped, coming face to face with a photo of Matt and himself, happy after winning their first football game of the season. _That was the game with Single Ladies – Matt found that so funny…_ Mike thought, biting his tongue to stop the sure flow of tears. Grabbing the photo, he ran downstairs, ignoring his parents questions and worries. Unlocking the back door, he went into his garage, grabbed a shovel and dug a massive hole. The shovel gave him blisters, and the sweat ran down his back (it was an unusually hot day in Lima) but he kept at it, digging and digging until he was bright red and covered in sweat and mud. Mike then chucked the photo into the hole, then ran back upstairs and grabbed his baseball bat, his football helmet and the t-shirt that Matt had leant him days before the fire, throwing them in as well. Then, he replaced the mud, savouring the hard work that caused him to forget the encore in his head _(Matt's gone, Matt's gone…) _if only for precious moments.

Running back upstairs, he threw his ruined clothes in the bin and then grabbed a shower. Only then did he let the tears flow (because if you cried in the shower, nobody can tell, and it doesn't count, right?).

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_Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it :D Please review? :)_


	12. Out Of Face Accusations

_Hey guys :) Here's your next update. Focuses on Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Finn and Rachel :) I was wondering, for my next story (no, this is not ending soon, but I like to think ahead :D) if anybody would like to write a story with me :) review if you would or message me and we can have a chat :D. Okay, enjoy lovelies, and thank you for your constant reviewing and alerts. It makes me want to update :) (L) x

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Out-of-face accusations… I won't run, no..._

Kurt lay in the corner of his room, curled up and leaning against the door. He wasn't quite sure why he was lay here – his original thought was that it would stop people coming in, but nobody had come in his room since Finn hadn't come home and was admitted to hospital. Carole was beside her with worry, which was understandable, and she was constantly in a rush to get to the hospital or crying herself to sleep because she was worried he'd never recover. His dad was more upset by the situation then he let on, constantly worrying after Carole and Finn, and selfish as it sounded, Kurt was sick of it. It was almost as if because the fire hadn't injured him externally, he hadn't been affected internally as well. _They don't know how wrong they are…_ Kurt thought bitterly to himself. A lone tear ran down his cheek, and he felt an outbreak of spots on his chin. He'd not followed his skincare routine in a week and he was suffering the consequences; not as if he cared – Kurt now realised there were things more important in life. It was too short to focus on stupid things like care routines.

Kurt placed his head on the cold door, vaguely focusing on the television. It was the news, some article on the importance of fire alarms. There had been a non stop campaign since the fire a week ago and according to the report, over 2,000 people in Ohio alone had installed new and updated fire systems since the 'McKinley Disaster' as the press had nicknamed it. It was eventually fading from the news now; it had been front page for three days, in the first ten for the next two and now eventually it was just a few paragraphs near the back. This made Kurt feel sick – how could they forget something that had ripped one of his best friends away from him? That had destroyed not only his life, not only the glee clubbers lives but every single child attending the school would be affected until the day they die.

He sighed, mulling things over in his head. He should probably get in touch with Mercedes and pop over to the hospital later; he hadn't been in three days.

Kurt's train of thought was distracted by those fateful words: "McKinley Disaster". He sat up suddenly, eyes focused on the television, sucking in every word.

"Hi, I'm Sarah Westwood reporting from the scene of McKinley High, where a disastrous fire broke out exactly a week ago today. Seven children died with six being admitted into hospital with injuries; four of those have now been discharged from hospital and are said to be recovering well at home. The extent of the fire has been blamed on a fire system failure which has seemed to gone unnoticed for some time…"

Kurt yawned. They had been through all of this before. _Get to the point, you silly cow_…

"Breaking news released today suggests that the headteacher – Principal Figgins – has been fired for the disaster. Rumours suggest that due to his inability to run sufficient fire safety checks his headship has been questioned and ultimately been ended today. More checks are still being done by the police and detective services today…"

Kurt was horrified; he could feel the shock showing on his face. Principal Figgins – fired? The bumbling man was too weak to be a head, that was sure, but nobody deserved this. _Another life forever affected… _Kurt thought bitterly.

"It is suggested that although the deaths are ultimately at the fault of the fire system failure, arson is involved in this heinous event. More information on that later. Back to the studio, Rob!"

Kurt was now sat up straight, his eyes open in shock. He could feel tears welling up again, but he blinked them back and scrambled for his cell. To his surprise, he already had a few missed calls on there: all from Mercedes. He dialled her back and she picked up in moments.

"Hello Mercedes," Kurt cradled the phone against his head; he couldn't believe somebody would do that to a school of all things.

"Hey fashionista, I take it you just saw that news report?" Mercedes exclaimed – Kurt could hear the shock in her voice.

"Yuuuuup!" Kurt dragged out his word as he couldn't think of anything to say. His mind was blank.

"It's just…" For once the diva was out of words.

"Agreed."

There was a silence for a moment – a long moment.

"Still coming to the hospital tonight?" Mercedes asked with a softer toner, "I hear Rachel finally woke up today!"

"That's brilliant. And yeah, I am," Kurt's voice was dull.

"Alright, sweety. Speak to you then! I'll swing by with my car at 8pm!"

"Okay babe, bye lovely!" He mustered up some form of enthusiasm, then snapped his phone down and chucked it across the room. It smacked the radiator, leaving a massive crack down the screen. Kurt didn't even care. He just stood up and left his room.

* * *

Tina sat curled up at her computer desk, her feet tucked under her legs. She had been researching what happened to Artie for a while now as he insisted he didn't want to step foot in a doctors ever again. So, ever the caring girlfriend, Tina had spent hours online trailing medical dictionaries for reasons as to how he'd forgotten the fire. Finally, when she'd found a solution, she'd then spent a further hour confirming that she'd discovered the right one. When she was happy with her reason, she printed off some pages of information, then buzzed Artie's phone. He picked up immediately, almost as if he'd been expecting the call.

"Hey babe," He said, his voice unlike normal. Then again, it'd been like that since Tina had reminded him of everything that had happened.

"Hi Artie! Listen, sorry to annoy you and if you're not free I understand but I think I've found out what happened to you!" Tina chose her words carefully; she didn't want to offend him.

"I'm really not interested Tee, but if it means a lot to you, come round now,"

"Alrighty babe, I'll be there in five minutes!" She hopped off the chair, gathered the pieces of paper she'd printed and then ran downstairs and raced to Artie's. Tina arrived in four minutes, and as usual Artie was waiting for her on the front.

"Hi babe," she said, kissing Artie on the cheek.

"Hey! So, what've you found?" Artie asked.

"Well, according to a medical journal you had 'Situation-Specific amnesia. It can arise in a variety of circumstances (e.g., committing an offence, child sexual abuse, or maybe even from a fire) resulting in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (that might explain the strange mood swings) It has been claimed that it involves a narrowing of consciousness with attention focused on central perceptual details and that the emotional or traumatic events are processed differently from ordinary memories focused on central perceptual details and/or that the emotional or traumatic events are processed differently from ordinary memories.'"

There was a moment of silence whilst Artie processed what Tina said, then he looked up at her whilst taking her hand.

"Sounds plausible," He stated.

"Yeah, it does," She replied.

"I'm sorry…" His voice trailed off, as if he was ashamed of forgetting.

"I'm sorry too…" She didn't even know what for, but she felt like she had to say it.

They stayed there like that all evening, watching the sun set and the stars appear, hand in hand.

* * *

After yesterday at the hospital, Rachel had woken up once more. To his ultimate joy, Finn had been at her side. He refused to leave it now he knew she was there, only returning to his room for food, sleep and tests. Now, as he sat watching her sleeping body, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed. He tried to ignore the stab of guilt that was known as Matt that was somewhere down in his stomach because he knew that if Matt was here, he'd be happy for them.

To some extent, Finn felt really guilty. He'd tried to be the hero, but heroes didn't only save one person, they saved everybody. He'd missed Matt, and Matt was now dead. His mom would tell him he was being silly, he'd done his best and he couldn't blame himself – for all Finn knew, Matt might not have been in the choir room. But Finn still felt it, every time he woke up, every time he breathed and every time he looked at Rachel.

It was a relief for him to see Rachel sleeping, her hair now brushed out and looking better. He loved seeing her chest move up and down, her lips twitch in her sleep. It made him feel okay again; it was like Rachel was his band aid. Rachel twitched in her sleep then, as if she knew what he was saying. She whispered something inaudible in her sleep, then grew peaceful again.

Finn smiled, stroking her hand. He'd give anything to see her better. For now though, he was content with watching her sleep.

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_Well, I hope you liked it :D Please review? :) x_


	13. Remember Things That You Said

_Hey my lovely readers :)! I had the most WONDERFUL review yesterday from newdirections! Thank you so much you lovely person, your review was so beautiful :D! Because of your lovely review, and your query about Brittany and Santana - here it is! This is Santana and Brittany's reactions to the fire, so enjoy! Thank you to all my reviewers and readers once more! xx_

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and i'm starting to remember things that you said..._

Brittany didn't really get what was going on. She understood that a fire had happened… and stuff… and people had like, died, and stuff… but dying was a good thing right? Sure, people on earth missed the people in heaven, but the dead people are in a land where there's unlimited cookies and rainbows and they can like, ride on unicorns and stuff. When Brittany had tried to get in touch with Santana, she was really upset and had really big black bags under her eyes. Brittany didn't get it – sure, she missed Matt loads too, and she'd maybe cried once into the teddy her grandma had gotten her, but Matt was in a happy place now and it was really… mean to want him back. And even though Brittany sometimes defaced Yearbooks and things, she didn't like being mean. Defacing Yearbooks is funny, right? It makes people giggle, and stuff.

Brittany's mom took her shopping for a dress for Matt's funeral the other day. She had like, a massive argument with her over the colour of the dress.

"Sweetie, dresses at funerals are normally black!" her mom had exclaimed.

"Yes, but like, Matt totally wouldn't want me to wear black. He'd be all 'Baby, you wear whatever colour you like'! And cause Matt reminds me of heaven which is like, rainbows and yellow and stuff, I want a really, pretty colourful dress!" Brittany had argued.

"Darling, this funeral is going to be massive. You cannot stand out, you'd ruin the atmosphere and sincerity of the service!" Her mom rolled her eyes, looking through the shelves for black dressed. Brittany stood there, looking confused until her eyes gazed across the store to a perfect dress. It was yellow, with a bow pinned onto the right sleeve. The bow had little rainbows on it, and she grinned, knowing the dress had Matt written all over it. She skipped over to the dress, wishing San was here to give her approval. Her mom followed her, and on seeing the dress Brittany held up, glared.

"Brittany, have you just ignored all I just said! B-L-A-C-K Brittany! That's the colour dress I'm buying you!" her mom huffed and turned away.

Brittany's face fell, then she tapped her mom's shoulder and began to speak.

"Listen, mom, I know it's like, traditionally or something to wear black at funerals, but isn't a funeral totally a way of remembering all the laughter that person brought into you're life? I don't _get_ why people cry! They should be smiling at all the love they had. This dress reminds me of it and I can't get a black one, because Matt wouldn't be happy with me and would shoot lightening down from heaven or something. I want Matt to be happy when he looks at me with his telescope and this dress will make him smile up there and not feel so lonely. Matt even told me once his favourite colour was yellow! So, mom, please can I get this dress?" Brittany smiled at her mom.

Much to her surprise, her mom's eyes watered and she enveloped Brittany into a hug.

"Course baby!"

Brittany didn't question her mom's change of heart. She just grabbed the dress, then skipped to the counter, thinking of how proud Matt was gonna be of her.

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Santana couldn't bring herself to get out of bed. _To hell with the diet, _she thought, stuffing chocolate down her throat and blowing her nose loudly into a tissue. Ever since she'd found out about Matt, the boy she was sort of trying to get with, she couldn't help but stay in bed, curled up watching soppy love DVD's. She'd crawled out of bed once, when Brittany was at the door. Brittany was her best friend and sometimes her fuck buddy, and the only comfort in her sad, sorry life before the disaster. Now it was after it, she found herself repulsed by the girl's stupidity and it surprised her. She'd always loved Brittany more then anybody else in the world, and now she couldn't stand to be near her. _It'll pass…_ she'd thought, and moved on.

Her dad popped into her room several times a day. She was definitely daddy's little girl, and she knew it was killing him seeing her like this, but it was a seeming impossible task to get out of her room. He'd sneak her chocolate, teddy bears and new DVD's to try and cheer her up, but nothing was _working_

If she was being honest with herself, she didn't think she'd be this bothered this at first. Sure, she was gutted when she discovered the death of Matt, but she'd survived the first day pretty well. When she woke up on the second day, it was like her heart had been ripped out of her chest, stood on and smeared across the wall, then put back in again only to have it done all over again. It hurt – oh god, it _hurt. _

Matt's funeral was in six days – exactly two weeks after the fire. She didn't know if she could go, if she could face the thought of seeing his beautiful body in a stuffy box – a place he didn't deserve to be. But of course, Santana knew that if she didn't go, she'd never forgive herself and Matt would be disappointed. So, instead of mulling over her heartbreak and loss and forgetting by watching DVD's, Santana finally decided by her sixth consecutive day in bed, she would be letting Matt down. So she got up.

Her dad seemed shocked to see her at the breakfast table, but she held herself together as if it was pre-fire. She said good morning, grabbed a bowl of cereal, kissed him on the cheek and headed back up to her room with the bowl. Then she got dressed, her hair in its traditional high ponytail. Putting the final touches to her make-up, she grabbed her cell and rang Brittany.

"Hey babe!" She smiled into the phone. She'd missed her best friend.

"Hey Sanny!" Brittany replied in a sing-song voice. Santana hated the nickname, but she loved Brittany too much to argue.

"What we doing for Matt's funeral, Brit?" She expected there to be a silence, an awkward pause or a necessary explanation of a funeral. There wasn't one.

"A song of course silly. I bet Mike's doing like, a dance or something, so we could totally get the gleeks to like sing something. Wasn't Matt's favourite song something by Kiss… or maybe Journey… or like, a hip-hop artist… or a metal band?" Brittany sounded confused.

"No worries. I'll sort it babe. Coming shopping in ten? I know you have a dress for the funeral, but I need one!"

"Sure, I'll meet you by that nice café in like, 10 minutes…"

"Okay, Brit. Love ya!"

"Love you too Sanny!"

Santana ended the call, then put her head against the cool mirror. The pain in her heart was still there, but she knew it would fade slightly in time.

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Mike had woken up on the eighth day since the fire with a determined plan in his mind. He went on the laptop, downloaded the piece of music he wanted and began to listen to it. Mike liked listening to songs on repeat until he _really_ understood it. Then, he could feel the music as he danced to it. After the tenth replay, he stood up and put his iPod on his dock. He went into his mom and dad's room and dragged the mirror out of it and into his. He placed it on the door, and he stared at himself for a long while. It was the first time he'd seen himself in days, and he didn't look at all well. He'd lost weight, his hair was greasy, his eyes were hollow and his clothes shabby.

Turning away from the mirror, he booted the wall: hard. A huge crack crawled up his wall, and his toes ached in pain. Blinking back tears that were threatening to form, he walked over to his iPod dock as if nothing had happened. He pressed the play button and began to dance, releasing all the pent up emotion that had formed over the last few days. His movements were swift, yet drawn out, and by the end of the song he was breathing heavily and was exhausted. He collapsed onto his bed, panting hard.

When he had regained a regular breathing pattern, he listened to the music once more and began to choreograph the perfect dance. After a few hours, he knew he'd gotten it to perfection and he smiled for the first time for what felt like years, the unused muscles in his face almost aching from the unusual movement.

Mike was still smiling when he turned to the mirror. His face dropped in horror, smiles gone and without thinking, he grabbed the baseball bat beside his bed and swung it at the mirror. It cracked into a million pieces on the floor and he breathed heavily, not regretting it at all. He kicked the pieces to the side of his door, promising to pick them up later and then ran back to his bed, diving under the duvet and placing his head under a pillow.

Smiling was only for the happy.

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_Thank you for reading :D! Please review? :) x_


	14. Unravelling What They Meant

_Hiya, thanks for the beautiful reviews, the alerts, etc... This chapter sucks. It has to be said. If you want me to re-do it, I'd totally understand, but I'm feeling too tired and ill to try and improve it right now, so I figured I'd just see what you thought. Also, I'm not sure if I can update tomorrow, so I'm pretty sure I may as well just put it up today. I hope you like it, even though I'm not a massive fan..._

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i'm unravelling what they meant..._

Finn rolled himself down the corridor, ready to sit by Rachel's bedside for another couple of hours. He was hoping Rachel would be well enough to at least sit through Matt's funeral – it was in five days after all, and he knew Rachel would be gutted if she couldn't get there. Also – and this was kind of selfish for Finn to admit – he needed Rachel there; he didn't know if he could make it through the entire thing with breaking down if she wasn't there.

Fumbling with the handle as normal, he finally pushed himself into Rachel's room. Finn looked over to his bed and he did a double take – he must have been dreaming. Rachel was sat up in his bed, smiling at him. She put her magazine down and said hello.

"Hiya Rach, um, you're up? As in properly, up?" Finn asked, confused.

"Yup! I think I've slept enough now for me to regain enough energy to stay awake and properly focused into the normal world for at the minimum two hours. Painful though my burns are, the anaesthetic has become an incredible aid. Without it I am sure my pain would be unbearable!" Rachel's voice was a lot weaker then usual, but she still managed to talk a lot more then the average person. Finn guessed it was because she'd been in the coma so long.

"Awesome! Do you, uh, know about... Matt?" Finn brought himself to ask; he couldn't bear her finding out in a few days like he did.

"Yes I do, Finn. I took a few moments earlier to cry and mourn his life, he was such an incredible dancer and showman – I will miss him greatly! And before you ask, I'll be at the funeral, whether the hospital like it or not!" She sent a soft smile his way and his stomach flopped. _She must be psychic…_ Finn returned the smile and rolled closer to the bed.

"How are you?" Rachel asked, worry on her face as she weighed up his burns, "You are so chivalrous Finn, coming back in for me! Thank you, so, so much!"

"You're welcome and I'm okay. Matt's deaths taking a massive toll on me and the burns, yeah they kinda hurt but I guess I'll be alright… How about yourself, babe?"

"I'm okay, a little shocked and I have nightmares and things but I'm lucky and I appreciate I'm alive. And you just called me babe!" Rachel was always straight-to-the-point. Finn had totally forgotten just how forward she could be.

"Yup… yes, I did. I won't if you don't want me to. But I like calling you that… cause it proves to the world you mean a lot to me!" Finn smiled at her, his crooked half smile and it sent butterflies through her stomach.

"That's alright then!" She beamed at him and he winked at her.

"And to prove how much you mean to me further, I'd totally get up and kiss you if my feet weren't like bandaged up and kinda badly burnt," Finn smiled sheepishly at Rachel.

"Well I guess I can let you off this time…" She said with a cheeky wink, only to be interrupted by her doctor.

"Finn son, your mom's waiting for you in your room, I think it's best you don't miss her visit!" The doctor smiled at him.

"Yeah, you're probably right! Um, see you later Rach?" He smiled, squeezed her hand and begun wheeling towards the door.

"I'll try and stay awake!" She softly smiled and with one last lingering look, Finn left.

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Much to the relief of Quinn, Puck hadn't left her side since she'd gotten the courage to tell him about what she'd done. He let her stay at his, he took her shopping and to the cinema, he sat and hugged her whilst they were watching television, he took her to see Beth and at night when she was screaming in her sleep, he held her close so she wouldn't feel alone. She even came with him to the hospital, this vulnerable little figure hanging onto his arm – almost like a child. It was exhausting for him and pressuring for her, but neither wanted to push the other away.

Quinn was totally ashamed of what she'd done. When she was younger, she used to laugh and point at people with big sweat bands on their wrists, shouting abuse from across the road. She thought it was silly to take your emotions out via pain, but after nights of being burnt alive in her dreams and days of being the supposedly strong one out of the gleeks, she'd felt like… the pain would be a _relief?_ And oh my god, how it was. With every cut, and a rip of pain she felt self control of the event that had destroyed her life. Not even the pregnancy had affected her as deeply as this.

Her mom had been there for her ever since the pregnancy. She felt so blessed to have a mom like her, even if she had abandoned her at first. But not even her mom had known what to say to help her through this and although she'd been there with cupcakes and hugs, Quinn didn't have the heart to tell her she had self harmed. There was only so much a mom could cope with in a lifetime.

It was midnight in Lima now, and Quinn and Puck were in the park again. Both of them seemed to find a lot of relief from the park; it was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. There were sat on a bench, watching the stars and hugging each other.

"Puck?"

"Quinn?"

"Do you think there's such thing as a God?" Quinn asked softly. It was deep, but it was something that was bothering her ever since Matt had… passed away.

"Um. Maybe. I mean things are sorta too pretty here to be accidental, right?" His answer was filled with confusion and thought, and Quinn was impressed with this new side of Puck.

"Yeah, I guess. Does that mean there's a heaven too?" Quinn pressed on.

"If you're trying to ask me 'Has Matt gone to heaven and is he happy?' the answer is undoubtedly yes. I bet he's watching you right now, hoping you'll cheer up and understand that wherever he is, it's sure as fuck better then here," Puck clutched to her a little tighter.

"Yeah. I guess you're right, Puck…" She snuggled against his face, and he cupped her chin with his big hand, pressing his lips down onto hers. She smiled into the kiss, feeling happy for the first time in days and their tongues danced together for a while before they broke apart for air. Then, they resumed their original positions, Quinn snuggled into Puck.

"Your mom gonna be worried?" Puck asked curiously.

"Nah, she thinks I'm at Mercedes!" Quinn replied.

"Smooth – not a bad lie for a girl!" He winked at Quinn and he got a deserving elbow in the side.

"Just because you've been brilliant over the last couple of days does not mean I am going to be put down by the man!" She stuck her tongue out at him, and he rubbed his side with a smile on his face.

"Can I see?" Puck asked, and Quinn looked down, her cheeks flushing slightly pink.

"If you really want…" Quinn replied, rolling up her sleeves and throwing the sweat bands onto the bench. Her wrist looked sore, the cuts all inflamed red and scabbing over.

"Never again babe, you promise?" He looked into her eyes, slowly and carefully putting the sweatbands back on her wrist. She nodded slightly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Never again!" She promised.

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_Hope you enjoyed :/ Please review :)?_


	15. The World Moves On

_hi! nearly at 200 reviews oh my god :D remember the 200th reviewer gets a say in the plot :)! this is a happy(ish) chapter just to give you some relief, it focuses on everyone but Finn and Rachel (eek, sorry but they're still in hospital!) I hope you enjoy :)! and please review :D_

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__but the world moves on..._

All the gleeks, excluding Finn and Rachel received a text off Santana four days prior to Matt's funeral. It said:

'Gleeks, we r doin a song the funeral – wana take part, meet mine at 3pm; c ya there! – Santana x'

Many of the gleeks were confused – especially Kurt, Puck and Tina. Santana had never even spoken to Kurt or Tina, and she'd avoided Puck since the Mohawk incident. Puck didn't want to go; Quinn had spent a major art of the day persuading him that he had to see other people at some point, but in the end he decided to show. In fact everyone, even though they were confused, had doubts and feared a practical joke, showed up except Mike. Mike had gotten the text, grabbed his baseball bat and smashed his phone. _Screw them!_ He'd thought, and carried on with his choreography. Artie showed up last, nervously messing with the side of his chair. Santana had answered the door with a big smile, her hair down and wearing jeans and a t-shirt much to Artie's surprise. _Still, she can't wear her Cheerios uniform forever, right? _He'd nervously said hi and followed her into her living room, looking around for pee balloons or eggs. There wasn't any – he was instead met by his best friends Tina, Kurt, Mercedes, Puck, Quinn and Brittany all smiling at him.

"Hey Artie!" Tina stood up immediately, rushing over to him and wheeling him next to her seat, giving him a huge kiss on the lips.

"Hi guys, sorry I'm late! What's going on then?" Artie pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned. He surveyed the room as he hadn't seen most of these people for over a week now. Puck seemed fine, his face as stony as ever and he had one arm wrapped tightly around Quinn. Quinn looked tired, with dark eyes and a giant hoodie on (unusual?). Quinn was sat near Mercedes who seemed alright, just quieter then usual. Kurt looked awful – his hair wasn't done like usual and he had spots on his chin, but Artie didn't want to comment. Brittany looked smiley, her hair down and her fingernails painted each with a different colour and Tina looked beautiful as always.

Santana came in then with a tray of drinks; she placed them on the table then settled into a chair.

"Matt-" she sniffed for a moment, then continued, "Matt meant so much to everyone of us. Sure, he was a football player, but we all know he loved glee the most. We need to remember him in song, cause he'd love it. And that's why we're here. I was gonna invite Finn and Rachel but they're still recovering so obviously they can't get out, so I didn't bother. So it's down to us, I'm sure Finn and Rachel (well, maybe not so much Rachel) will understand. Any ideas for the song?"

The room went silent for a moment, absorbing the touching words Santana had managed to put across. So many people thought Santana was a heartless, sex obsessed bitch, but maybe she'd just proved herself to be more.

"No. I don't have any ideas – song ideas that is. But, I know who should freaking be here and who isn't!" Puck broke through, and suddenly the whole room understood.

"You're totally right, Mr Schue should be here!" Tina agreed, and the room burst into nods and shouts of agreement.

"Okay, so let's go get him then?" Santana shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Sure Santana, we all know where our teachers live!" Kurt sarcastically cut through.

"That would be kind of creepy…" Mercedes shuddered.

Puck coughed then, and everyone turned to look at him.

"Puck?" Quinn asked, a curious look on her face.

"Well, ahem, I may know where he lives…" Puck trailed off, an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Oh, did you like have a sleepover there?" Brittany asked from her seat by the fire.

"I kinda stole a book of details from the office a couple of years back. Schue's address is in it, I egged his house last year when he failed me in Spanish…" Puck looked guilty.

"Well, why aren't we all in our cars following you then? Lead the way, Puckerman!" Santana ordered, and everybody rose simultaneously, rushing to get into their cars. Tina pushed Artie and helped him into her car, Brittany and Santana rode together as did Kurt and Mercedes and Puck and Quinn led the way. After around fifteen minutes, they pulled up outside a neat little house in the suburbs.

Artie whistled in appreciation, "Nice house!"

"Um, who's knocking?" Tina asked, a blush crawling across her face. Santana rolled her eyes, shook her head and then marched up the drive, everybody else following. She rung the doorbell three times repeatedly, then stepped back from the door. When no-one answered after five minutes, she rung the doorbell again, then began kicking the door as Puck hammered at it. Eventually, it opened a crack.

"Guys? What do you want, it's not exactly the best time?" Mr Schue croaked from behind the door.

"Oh, sorry, did we wake you up?" Quinn said, only to be cut off by Santana.

"It's 3.30 in the freaking afternoon. Let us in sir, this is IMPORTANT Glee business. And we need your help!" Santana ordered.

The tired teacher sighed and scratched his head before opening the door to a round of gasps. The man had bloodshot eyes, his hair was sticking up everywhere and he was beginning to grow a beard. Everytime he breathed outwards, the kids could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"So, you're taking it as hard as us then?" Puck nodded, touched the man on the shoulder in a meaningful gesture and then led the way for the kids to follow him into the house. Puck somehow managed to lead them to the living room and they all collapsed onto the various available seats, followed moments later by Mr Schue.

"Right guys… Glee emergency, what's up?" Mr Schue stretched, then yawned, sitting in the last available seat.

"We need a song!" Brittany said in a sing-song voice.

"And choreography. Urgently!" Santana added.

"Urgently, as in for Matt's funeral, urgently!" Mercedes finished.

Mr Schue took a deep breath, then sunk into the chair. He couldn't be bothered with this. Matt's death had hit him hard – he'd never realised how much he'd loved all the kids until one of them had gone. And without Emma or Matt, he'd been going insane. He'd stayed up until ridiculous hours watching television to prevent the nightmares, drinking cheap cider and eating chips. Now, with all of his glee children at his doorstep, he realised how foolish he'd been. The kids were all looking at him with big eyes – he realised now that maybe they'd taken it even harder then he had.

"Actually, I do have something in mind… Meet me here at 12pm tomorrow guys, and we'll get to work!" He smiled.

The gleeks exchanged high fives all around.

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_Thanks for reading, hope you liked it :D Please review :)? _


	16. Just Another One Pt 1

_THANK YOU SO MUCH! 201 reviews oh my god i love you guys! Me and the 200th reviewer (hellojo1994) had a nice little chat and she wanted to see more Finchel and some Brittany/Mike. Her idea IS the Brittany/Mike bit of this chapter, my input into this is the Finchel and the twist at the end. Sorry about the wait to update, summer had finally caught up with me and I'm going on holiday very, VERY soon so i've been busy :D! I hope you enjoy, etc, this chapters longer then normal and is two parts :) The songs: Blink182 I Miss You and Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day... Enjoy... :D_

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_you're just another one..._

The day of the funeral arrived way more quickly then anybody thought it would. When Finn woke up, still in hospital, it hit him like a smack in the face. His stomach churned with upset and nerves – he hated funerals and he didn't think he was ready to let Matt go just yet. He was that nervous in fact, that when the nurse brought him his breakfast – soggy toast – he couldn't bring himself to eat it. Not one little bite. His mom had brought him a suit to wear especially for the funeral so he got dressed with great difficulty and help from the nurses – his hand and legs were still sore after all. Then, when he was finally ready, he had to get back into the wheelchair that he'd be sat in for the service. His burns were still that bad on his legs that he couldn't walk as of yet. Finn knew he'd need serious help when he left the hospital.

Rachel was coming with him to the funeral; they were sticking together all day. After much persuasion with her dads, they'd finally decided she was right and that she couldn't miss her friend's funeral. They reluctantly told the hospital that they had their permission to release her for a day and that she would arrive back here at sometime after 9pm and then made arrangements with Finn's mother. Finn met up with Rachel in the hospital lobby and his mom took them to the van they'd rented out for the day to ensure they could easily get to the church with the wheelchairs. Rachel couldn't help but realise how hard life must be for Artie. _At least we had practise using wheelchairs when we were doing Proud Mary..._

The journey to the church was short and they arrived ten minutes before the funeral was ready to start. Carole helped them out of the van using the ramp and then took them into a pew near the front of the church. She helped them out of the chairs, folded them up and then stuck them at the bottom of the pew. Bowing her head, she left them together and took a seat nearer the back of the church, knowing Matt's family and friends would want the front half of the church to themselves. Mourners dressed in black were trickling through the doors; Rachel found this hard to watch.

"I'm glad you're here," Finn whispered, taking Rachel's hand and squeezing it softly.

"Me too; I don't think I could have forgiven myself if I wasn't here for Matt's final goodbye," Rachel's breath caught in her throat; Finn rested his hand around her waist and brought her closer to him.

"But you're here and that's all that matters," Finn's voice was almost inaudible.

"Yeah, that's all that matters," Rachel stated, almost as if she was convincing herself more then anyone else that she was _alive_. She rested her head on his shoulder and the two sat there entwined for the remaining moments before the service, watching the remaining mourners enter the church. Some of the last people to enter were the glee club and Mr Schue – Finn was happy that Brittany was wearing a yellow dress; everyone in black made him want to cry – and finally, Matt's parents. As his parents walked down the aisle; people offered their condolences but nothing they offered could make up for the fact they'd lost their child. His mom was softly sobbing into a tissue; his dad also looked broken. They settled into their seats right at the front of the church and then soft music began to play as the priest entered. Rachel recognized it to be a Kiss ballad and her heart wrenched as she realised that must have been Matt's favourite band. _I didn't even know... There's so much I didn't know..._

The music grew to a halt as the priest reached the altar. He turned to see the congregation and began to speak.

"I welcome you all today to a service of remembrance and a celebration of Matt Rutherford's life. Matt was a smart, talented boy, his talents lying especially in football and glee club..." Finn tuned out of the priests speech. He didn't see the point of listening, it was just a load of pointless drabble from a man who had no idea who the hell Matt Rutherford was. Finn gazed around the church, focusing on the glee club. He hadn't seen a few of them since they visited straight after the fire and some of them looked awful and sad – Tina, Quinn and Kurt especially. Puck was unfocused (Finn could tell by his eyes) and Brittany was paying no attention whatsoever... in fact, Finn realised, it looked as if she was counting how many fingers she had. When Finn looked at the other side of the church, he spied Mike sitting with his family. Finn's face dropped – the boy looked ill. Matt's death had taken him hard.

Rachel noticed Finn wasn't paying attention, and brought him back out of his trance with a poke to the side. He snapped his head back around and noticed Matt's dad was going up to the altar to speak.

"Matt... Matt was my baby boy. I loved him so much, as all parents love their children. He was beautiful, he was talented and he had true friends. I always used to go into his room to see him dancing to his new favourite song, or hear him practising vocals for glee club. He took vocal lessons, he went to dance classes and he gave 100%... and that's my boy. Now he's gone, Anne and I are putting 100% effort into making sure his legacy lives on. A boy like Matt shouldn't be forgotten and because he's gone doesn't mean he's left my life. We love you Matt, rest in peace wherever you are..." His dad begun to cry at this point and another family member – maybe Matt's granddad? – went to support him as he left the altar. Finn felt Rachel move beside him and noticed she had tears trickling down her face. He used his sleeve to wipe them away and he tucked her under his arm, making her feel safe and comforted.

A movement from the left side of the church caught Finn's attention and he noticed the glee club standing up and taking positions on the altar. Mr Schue came to the front and began to speak.

"As a glee club, we offer our condolences to Matt's family. We loved Matt very much and his death has effected us deeply. Matt was one of our best friends, a talented showman and a loving guy. This performance is to ensure you that Matt will never be forgotten, because glee club will carry his memory forever. We hope you enjoy the performance..."

An eerie silence crept across the gym as they waited for the music to start up. The beat began to echo around the church and then Artie began to sing...

_Hello there, the angel from my nightmare_  
_The shadow in the background of the morgue_  
_The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley_

Mercedes joined in, her powerful voice filled with emotion for her lost friend.

_We can live like Jack and Sally if we want_  
_Where you can always find me_

Puck took over from Artie, his voice unsure at first but growing as he gained confidence.

_We'll have Halloween on Christmas_  
_And in the night we'll wish this never ends_  
_We'll wish this never ends_

The glee club as a whole took on the encore, continuing the simple choreography they had performed throughtout.

_(I miss you...)_  
_(I miss you...)_

Tina joined Puck and Mercedes, their voices mashing together perfectly.

_Where are you and I'm so sorry_  
_I cannot sleep I cannot dream tonight_  
_I need somebody and always_  
_This sick strange darkness_  
_Comes creeping on so haunting every time_

Santana also joined in, her voice hitting each note perfectly.

_And as I stared I counted_  
_The webs from all the spiders_  
_Catching things and eating their insides_

Kurt added his voice to the ensemble, his tears saying it all for the group.

_Like indecision to call you_  
_and hear your voice of treason_

Quinn joined in for the final two lines, her voice emotional and perfect.

_Will you come home and stop this pain tonight_  
_Stop this pain tonight_

They finished the song together as a group, holding hands together.

_Don't waste your time on me you're already_  
_The voice inside my head (I miss you...)_  
_Don't waste your time on me you're already_  
_The voice inside my head (I miss you...)_  
_[x3]_

_(I miss you...)_

The group received tumultuous applause, many of the people crying and smiling at the same time as they filed off the altar. Finn and Rachel clapped the loudest of them all, proud of their friends amazing performance and proud that they'd come together at such a difficult time.

A sharp thought passed through Rachel's brain. "Where was Mike?" she whispered to Finn.

Finn shrugged in reply, "I don't know, but he's over there" he answered and nodded his head in his direction. When the church fell silent, another beat began and Mike stood up.

"Maybe he's doing his own tribute..." Finn hissed, receiving a nod from Rachel as a response.

There was no introduction for Mike's piece. He just came to the altar and began to dance, singing softly at the same time. His movements were slow and drawn out, as if it was almost painful for him to perform them.

_I close both locks below the window_  
_I close both blinds and turn away_  
_Sometimes solutions aren't so simple_  
_Sometimes goodbye's the only way_

The entire performance was powerful and emotion filled. Mike's movements were exact and particular, as if he had chosen them to express and share his raw pain and emotion about the situation.

_And the sun will set for you_  
_The sun will set for you_  
_And the shadow of the day_  
_Will embrace the world in grey_  
_And the sun will set for you_  
_Pink cards and flowers on your window_  
_Your friends all plead for you to stay_  
_Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple_  
_Sometimes goodbye's the only way_

Mike sung softly, his words eerie and reminiscent. The church watched, enthralled by this incredible display.

_And the sun will set for you_  
_The sun will set for you_  
_And the shadow of the day_  
_Will embrace the world in grey_  
_And the sun will set for you_

_And the shadow of the day_  
_Will embrace the world in grey_  
_And the sun will set for you_

_And the shadow of the day_  
_Will embrace the world in grey_  
_And the sun will set for you_

He drew out the last movement more so then the others, as if he was surprised he'd gotten through it. The last enchanting word left his lips and as the music halted the whole church stayed silent for a moment, as if they couldn't believe it was over. Then the place erupted, the applause loud with more people reaching for tissues then before. Mike waited at the front, watching the tear filled people with empty eyes.

"That, that was for my best friend. I'm going to miss him, so much... That performance was the least I could do. I love you Matt!" Mike's words reverberated around the church and then, taking a few strides towards the door he left. The priest stepped up to the altar again, breaking the powerful silence.

"And now, a Bible reading from Matt's head teacher, Principal Figgins..."

Brittany couldn't be bothered listening and she was worried about Mike. That was the first time she'd seen him in two weeks and he looked really ill.

"Santana!" Brittany spoke a little too loudly and received glares from people surrounding her.

"What?" Santana hissed.

"Should I go see if Mike's okay?" Brittany asked, her face scrunched up in worry.

"If it'll make you feel better. Come back when everything's sorted!" Santana replied, and then she turned back to the altar. Brittany slipped out of the pew quietly, trying not to disturb the service. She pulled the big wooden doors open with some difficulty and then nipped out, trying to shut them as silently as possible. Mike was nowhere to be seen when she got to the car park, but as the church was in the middle of the country, next to a river, Brittany figured Mike couldn't have gone very far. She wobbled down a small grass bank, not wanting to fall in her heels or get her dress dirty. When she got to the bottom of the bank, she saw a figure hunched by the river about 100 meters away. The figure had his back to her, so as she grew closer she didn't scare them away.

When she got right behind them, she realised it was Mike by his clothes. He was hunched over a rope, several boxes of tablets and a gun.

"Mike..." she whispered softly, obvious distress in her voice. He jerked, spinning around quickly with the gun in his hand.

"Back off!" he spat, only to see it was Brittany. She stepped backwards, misplacing her foot and slipping in the mud, landing in the river bed. Mike had sort of fancied Brittany for a while now, but that was all blown to pieces after Matt died.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Brit... I didn't know it was you, I didn't want to scare you!" Mike apologized, extending his hand and helping her up.

"Mike... what are you doing with a gun and stuff?" she trembled, peering around him to see the bullets on the floor.

"I'm not killing anyone, no worries," Mike laughed emptily and Brittany started to feel a little creeped out.

"Mike?" Brittany asked softly, "You're not gonna kill yourself are you?"

Mike looked stumped – he didn't expect Brittany to click what was going on.

"I can't take this anymore, Brit! The pain of waking up every day and not having him there, the ache when I turn around to see I'm alone again and the fear that if I do carry on, I'm going to be left again!" Mike whimpered, sitting down on the bank and putting his head in his hands.

"But, that's silly. You're not alone cause you have me – and glee! You're not gonna be left, because if I'm gone, then there's Finn, Rachel, Santana, Tina, Artie, Quinn, Mercedes and Puck there to help you through it. And I know you miss Matt and we all do – obviously you the most – but you're strong enough to get through it. I'll be there every step of the way..." Brittany settled next to him on the bank, reaching over and chucking the tablets into the river. She was surprised to see Mike let her, so feeling brave, she threw the rope away as well.

"I guess I have you Brit..." he murmured into his hands.

"You've always had me Mike, you just forgot for a while and that was sorta silly!" she smiled at him.

"Yeah... silly..." he seemed to struggle to get around the words, "Hey! You'll be ruining your dress!"

"It kinda got ruined when I fell into the river..." Brittany laughed, almost bringing a smile to Mike's face.

"I guess... sorry about that..." Mike whispered, still toying with the gun with his feet.

"It's alright..." Brittany whispered too, neither of them sure why. She lent over to him, capturing his lips in a soft kiss. To his surprise, he found himself returning it and he placed his hands on her waist. They broke apart, Brittany smiling and Mike sure of his decision.

"I won't need this gun then!" he exclaimed, and he kicked it into the river.

And as he kicked it, it went off, firing up the bank.

He gasped, spinning around to see if Brittany was okay.

And that's when he noticed the blood stain leaking across her yellow dress.

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_OOO hope you liked the twist. Please review :)?_


	17. Just Another One Pt 2

_This is part two of chapter 16 :D It's going to be three parts I decided. This update is majorly small which you guys don't deserve after your incredible response to the last chapter! But I don't know when I can update again until after Wednesday, so I figured you deserve some form of update. __Heh heh I felt so evil with the twist. This is a chapter with the gleeks reactions to the shooting, enjoy, and please remember to review :)._

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Brittany let out a horrific scream, her face contorted in agony. Mike looked like a deer caught in headlights, his eyes flicking from the gun to Brittany's face in horror and his arms flailing around as he figured out what to do. His eyes unfocused temporarily and his head seemed to move towards the gun slowly, as if in a horror movie. He fixated his gaze on the gun and just as he was about to dart for it to just _freaking end this_ Brittany screamed again, this time at him.

"DON'T YOU DARE SHOOT YOURSELF, MIKE!" she shouted and then let out another groan of pain, placing her hand over the wound in her side.

He turned back around again, looking at Brittany with eyes so empty they scared her and she honestly didn't know what was going to happen and she was going to die here and he was going to kill himself...

He shook his head and his eyes seemed to clear, worry and panic the main emotions she could see.

"Mike... please, this hurts so bad and I so don't want to die today..." she winced and that emission of pain seemed to jog him into action.

Mike ripped the sleeve off his shirt and tossed it to Brittany. He then grabbed his mobile phone, typing in 91. The sleeve landed by the side of her and she cocked her head with confusion.

"_Put it on your wound!"_ he mouthed at her just as somebody picked up.

"Hello, 911, Police, Ambulance or Fire Service?" the receptionist asked in a calm tone.

"Um, ambulance please!" Mike's voice was panicked and higher then usual.

"Putting you through now!" Mike heard the click of the phone as he was put through to another line. He hopped from one foot to another, getting impatient as Brittany began to softly cry in pain.

"Hello, Ambulance Service!" another receptionist stated, "What seems to be the problem today?"

"Gunshot wound... my friend... she's in pain..." Mike trembled, stumbling over his words.

"Okay, what's the address of your present whereabouts?" the person said down the phone.

"Uh, oh god I'm not sure. We're by the river of Oswald's Church..." Mike told the lady, keeping an eye on Brittany who'd curled over now, eyes fluttering open and shut.

"Alright, the ambulance is on their way. Can you tell me where the wound is?"

"Um, I think it's on her side, that's where the blood seems to be coming from..."

"Alright. Have you got anything to keep pressure on the wound?"

"Yup, I put my sleeve on it,"

"Good thinking, that will reduce the chances of air getting into the wound and prevent the lungs collapsing. Is the victim still breathing?"

Mike took another look at Brittany who was panting heavily now, "Yeah, she's breathing!"

"Okay, keep her in a position most comfortable for her and try not to elevate the wound though as it could cause to more bleeding. If you keep her like this, her chances of recovery are higher. An ambulance is on the way, stay calm, stay with her and we'll be there in the next ten minutes!"

"Okay, thank you!" Mike sighed as he heard the dialling tone. He ran up the bank to Brittany, lying down next to her and speaking to her to keep her there.

"Brittany, I'm sorry, shit I'm sorry. This is my fault, Brit!" Mike said, tears leaking from his ears.

"It's not... your fault," she murmured.

"I'm sorry. I really like you Brit, I did before the fire and I still do. I would have topped myself before now if it wasn't for you!" Mike said earnestly, grasping her hand and looking into her eyes.

"I always liked you anyway Mike..." her voice weakened and her eyes were starting to lose any spark of Brittany. Mike leant over and kissed her for brief seconds. Then, he heard the sirens of the ambulance arrive.

"Babe, help's here now, you're gonna be fine..." Mike whispered.

"I know..."

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The soft Kiss classic began again as Matt's body was once again carried out of the church after the funeral service. There had been tears and heart wrenching speeches after Mike's performance, but now it was all over. It seemed to Finn that Rachel had only just accepted that Matt was gone by the way she was sobbing into his arms.

"It's so awful, Finn!" she spluttered, wiping her eyes with the edge of a tissue, careful not to smudge her make up.

"I know babe, I know," he rubbed her back and tried to blink back the tears in his own eyes. The service was seriously sad.

"It's just – that's Matt's body in there. It's Matt. In a stupid wooden box. Somewhere he doesn't deserve to be. This shouldn't have happened!" she faltered, choking on her sobs and going back to Finn's shoulder. He just continued to rub her back, making 'shhh' noises and holding her tightly with his non injured arm. They stayed like that for a few moments until the glee club came over. Quinn, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes and to his surprise Artie all had tears in their eyes from the service. Puck's face was scrunched up in some sort of twisted attempt to stop himself from crying and Santana's face was stony in shock as if she couldn't believe the funeral had just happened.

"Hey..." Finn greeted them as they came over and received a series of hello's in return. They stood around in silence for a few moments before Santana steely expression broke and she looked round in seeming horror.

"Crap!" she cursed, eyes panicked and her face flushed.

"What's up?" Puck asked in sync with Mercedes who also muttered _'I'm sure it's wrong to swear in a church...'_

"Brittany! She went to see if Mike was okay after the sequence around forty minutes ago and she's not come back!" Santana had pure fear in her voice now; she was scared for Brittany and Mike.

"Right well we'll do the sensible thing. Puck and Tina, you help Rachel and Finn back into their chairs and then meet us outside. The rest of us –"

Kurt was cut off by sirens outside. Santana's face changed into a deathly white colour and she began to sprint to the doors whilst the rest of the gleeks looked on in horror. Quinn sprinted after her, followed by Puck. The doors slammed with a scary finality and Finn looked at the remaining gleeks.

"Not to be rude, but will someone please help me and Rach into the freaking chairs so we can go see what's up?"

A flurry of activity commenced then, and between them, Kurt, Mercedes, Tina and Artie managed to get their two friends into the chairs with great difficulty. Tina then took Rachel's chair and Mercedes took Finn's and they rushed outside to see what was going on.

What they saw was utter madness. Finn could only thank God that Matt's parents had gone earlier with his body so they didn't have to see this. Santana was screaming and sobbing hysterically from by the ambulance, Quinn and Puck were stood in seeming shock hugging her, the mourners were milling around trying not to watch the scene unfold but seemed sickeningly mesmerised, Mike was clambering into the back of the ambulance and Brittany was strapped onto a stretcher, blood pouring from her side. At the sight of the scene Rachel was promptly sick onto the floor in front of her, Tina burst into tears and Finn nearly fainted in shock. Puck ran over when he saw his friends come out of the church, his face stricken in horror.

"Brittany... Brittany's been shot guys!" Puck spat out the words as if they were poison. He felt immediately guilty to his friend's reactions; they'd already been through so much.

"How... how is she?" Mercedes asked the question no one could bear to ask.

"She's alive... she's breathing... she's talking... she seems okay!" Puck explained, stating the good things about the situation. A pain filled silence filled the air and nobody knew what to do.

"Guess we better get over to the hospital then," Rachel said. She took Finn's hand, and the two began wheeling over to their van together. Tina and Artie followed the pair, also holding hands and Mercedes and Kurt linked arms and walked back to Mr Schue with Puck. Mr Schue had been outside through it all, so maybe he'd know more.

"Mercedes?"

"Kurt?"

"Is the glee club ever going to get a break?" Kurt tentatively asked.

"I don't think so honey," Mercedes bowed her head. They shared a dark look filled with hurt, and then continued the short walk back to Mr Schue.

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_Hope you enjoyed :)! Please review? :)_


	18. Just Another One Pt 3

_Wow, thanks again for all the reviews, alerts etc... I nearly have 500 emails about this things which is incredible :D I love you all, so any suggestions or things you'd like to see, put them in a message or review and I'll try to include your ideas. Sorry for any typos in this, I wrote it at one in the morning and I've had zero sleep so I just figured I'd upload it. This is part three of the Brittany chapter so enjoy and again, thank you :)! xx_  
_

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you're just another one..._

Mike had been sat in the hospital for two hours now. He'd helplessly watched as they took Brittany away, muttering about emergency operations and blood loss. Now, he was sat here worried out of his mind and waiting for some news – _any news._

He was disturbed from his fear filled train of thought by a hysterical Santana racing down the corridor. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair sticking all over the place and her eyes bloodshot. Mike watched in sick horror as the devastated girl ran up to the desk and screamed at the receptionist.

"WHERE THE HELL IS BRITTANY?"

"Miss, this is a hospital – if you'd just calm down..."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me where the hell Brittany is!"

"Miss, you are being unnecessarily rude to a member of staff. Although you are expectedly worried about your..." the man behind the counter trailed off, waiting for Santana to tell him their relationship status.

"Sister!"

"Although you are expectedly worried about your sister's health – and your concerns are explainable, your behaviour is not and you need to calm down. Please take a seat and come back over when you feel you have reached a more suitable tone," the man said, going back to his computer. Santana looked furious but barged over to the waiting room seats. She stood still when she saw Mike stood up looking gobsmacked. She realised he'd watched the whole scene.

"Well, what are you looking at?" she spat, throwing herself down into a seat and grabbing a magazine. Mike also sat back down, feeling uncomfortable and slightly nervous.

"Hey," he muttered, but received no response. He settled back into his way of passing the time – counting the bricks on the wall. Mike had just gotten to 23 bricks when he heard more frantic footsteps on the floor and the squeaking of wheels. Gazing up he saw Puck and Quinn running down the corridor, followed by an exhausted Mercedes pushing Finn and Kurt who was pushing Rachel. They looked around frantically and when they saw Santana they sighed in relief. Walking more slowly now, they sauntered over and took the remaining seats.

"Woah white girl, you gave us a scare there!" Mercedes puffed, taking a sip of the water from her bag.

"Yeah Santana! Did you really have to ditch us after we'd tried – and failed – to calm you down for the past two hours," Puck interjected.

"You were patronizing me!" Santana sniped, and Quinn raised her hands in mock defeat.

"There goes the day I try and help you again!" Quinn glared.

"I never needed your help in the first place!" Santana shrieked, hands clenched by her sides.

"Santana, breathe!" Kurt barged in, much to her distaste.

"Shut it Kurt!" she replied.

Finn and Rachel watched this exchange, their heads moving from each person as they spoke and eyes bulging. _Not like Rachel not to join in,_ Mike thought to himself.

"Guys, be quiet! We need each other throughout this difficult and traumatic time and we cannot be doing with immature responses such as pathetic arguments right now! Santana we recognize you are quite upset, but now that you have calmed down maybe you can find out Brittany's condition. Although you may deny this to be true, you do need us at this time. So please, accept the help we offer. The rest of you... sit down and relax. There's nothing more to be done if we cannot see Brittany," Rachel's speech ended and everyone seemed stunned. They all followed what she said though, much to her relief and much to their chagrin. Finn smiled at her and he received a massive Rachel Berry grin back. _Ah, there's Rachel's comment, _Mike thought from the other side of the room.

Just as Santana had walked back over to the desk, Tina and Artie arrived, followed by a tired Mr Schue.

"What did we miss?" Artie asked, pushing his glasses onto his nose. Everybody laughed then, the tension eased and Kurt filled them in whilst the rest of glee waited for Santana. After a five minute chat with the man ending with an apology for her behaviour, Santana walked back over looking slightly grim.

"Well, um, she's in the final stages of her surgery to remove the bullet. It's looking okay... um, the bullet went in her side and didn't hit any vital organs but it did break a rib and it's sort of stuck in there. The shockwaves from the bullet entering her body might have affected the surrounding organs though, so she might have internal bleeding – ultimately leading to death. It's 50/50 guys..." Santana broke off then, bursting into tears. Mike also began to sob, causing the gleeks to look around in surprise.

"Oh yeah... Mike's over there guys..." Santana hiccupped.

Mike sniffled into a tissue, dried his eyes then awkwardly waved at the club. He hadn't seen them since the fire and he didn't know if he wanted to. Also, they'd ask questions and he was too damn tired for those right now.

"Hey Mike!" Finn smiled, waving him over. _What the hell, _Mike thought; _everyone needs friends in times like this I guess._

Mike picked himself up and flopped into a seat near his friends.

"Hi," Mike said cautiously.

"Guess you heard Brittany's story then," Puck stated.

"Yup," Mike nodded. He was genuinely surprised, yet grateful that no one had asked anything yet.

"You reckon her mom's here?" Tina asked, genuinely interested.

"Probably," Quinn answered, "I'm betting it's that blonde lady by the water fountain!"

"It is," Santana interrupted sharply, and everyone grew silent.

A doctor came into the room then and walked over to Brittany's mom. Everyone watched, trying to listen in but they couldn't hear a word. Then, Brittany's mom stood up and walked out of the room. The gleeks looked around nervously, unsure of what to do.

"What the hell are we sitting here for?" Santana exclaimed, "Two of us should follow them, me being one of them!" She stood up and followed the woman out of the room.

"I guess I should go after her?" Mike questioned, and when everybody nodded he took that as his cue to tag on.

He followed Santana down another long white corridor, through a set of double doors, down another flight of stairs until they reached an unusually silent ward. The people were all asleep in there with lots of wires coming off their bodies and bags of blood being pumped into them. Mike felt awful; he had done this to Brittany! Shaking the thought from his brain, he tip-toed after Santana until they reached a room at the end of the corridor. Brittany's mom was in there, grasping a silent Brittany's hand and whispering to her.

"Brit baby I love you so much..." they heard from the room, and he wasn't surprised when Santana slumped to the floor, head in hands. He joined her, feeling broken and swamped with guilt. Moments later, Brittany's mom walked out of the room, walking with her head held high and ignoring the tears that were falling every few seconds. She didn't even notice the two teens curled up on the floor.

Santana's head snapped up when Brittany's mom's heels faded into the distance.

"Should we go in?" she asked, ever-so-_tenderly _for Santana.

"I need to see her," Mike stated. This wasn't a lie – it was fact.

"Okay then, let's go before any doctors come along!" Santana nodded, scrambled to her feet and ran into the room, Mike following as quickly as he could.

The room was deadly silent, excluding the beep of her heart monitor. Mike found this comforting, the heart monitor meant she was alive and kept some sound in the room. They slowly moved towards the bed. Brittany's hair was scraped back, muddy and damp with perspiration. She had a massive bandage on her side, covering her scar and ensuring she experienced no more blood loss. A blood bag was next to her bed, pumping blood into her body to make up for what she lost earlier and she had had random tubes attached to her body, though neither Santana nor Mike understood why. Santana slid into the chair beside her bed, grabbing her hand and stroking it softly.

"Brit, I love you baby. My best friend, you know? And when they rebuild school this summer, and when we go back if you can't do Cheerios anymore, neither will I. If you don't survive, I have nothing. I love you Brit, so much..." Santana choked on a sob and fled the room.

Mike sneaked closer then, seizing his opportunity.

"Brit, I'm sorry. I hope you forgive me. I'd have taken that bullet for you any day. You saved me though, and I'll be forever grateful. Please live, please try Brit. I don't know what I'd do without you. Probably die inside. I love you, Brit. When you get out of this, and recover, I'm gonna ask you out and we'll be together. Thank you for everything and I'm so sorry..." He picked up her hand and pressed it to his mouth, holding back tears. When she didn't respond, he placed it back softly and began to leave.

"_Sanny... Mike..." _Brittany murmured in her unconscious state. Mike span around, hoping she'd have awoken but to his disdain, she hadn't.

As he left, silently, he couldn't help but see the positive side of her whispers. At least she'd been dreaming about him.

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_Hope you enjoyed it :) Please review :)?_


	19. How Can I Move On?

_Okay it's been a week and I can only apologize. Epic writers block + busy summer = no updates. I'm sorry! And I lose my internet connection on Saturday, and then I go away so I can't update until the first of September, meaning I suck! I'm **really**_ _sorry! I'll try and update tomorrow but writers block is making everything really difficult. Your reviews have been great though, they are the reason I eventually updated, albeit late. So if you review, I'll do my best to update tomorrow. Thank you for sticking with DGAO :) Finchel fluff chapter._

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_how can i move on?_

It had been a week since Finn and Rachel had been discharged from hospital and a week and a half since Brittany had been admitted. Both Finn and Rachel were having difficulty getting around still being in their chairs, their only comfort the relief of knowing in just under a week they'd have to give the wheelchairs back and begin physiotherapy (they hadn't used their limbs in a month and they would have to undertake a certain amount of physio to get back into shape). They hadn't seen anybody since the day of the funeral due to the difficulties they were having getting around, the only people they'd seen being each other.

It was a rainy afternoon and this time Finn was round at Rachel's house. He had gotten his mom to drop him off on her way to grocery shopping and as Rachel's dads were at another weekend conference, they had the house to themselves.

"It's terrible news about school, isn't it Finn? I for one cannot believe they are content with letting us be taught in sub-standard tin cans whilst rich schools like Carmel are still getting thousands poured into them for art problems. I believe, and I am sure many people will join me saying this, that the Carmel art program should be cut in order to get our school up and running more quickly!" Finn sighed and lent back into the chair, trying not to look bored. He'd already heard this argument three times this week, but he liked being with Rachel and being honest he was sort of scared of Angry Rachel.

"Yeah... I agree babe. But at least we're together in the portakabins instead of being shipped off to different schools! It could be worse. And they're building a new school, so we'll only be in the 'tin cans' for like three months when we go back after summer. Then we'll have a normal school again!" Finn smiled at Rachel and she felt her heart melt a little. She knew Finn was right, even though she hated to admit it.

"I guess you're right, I'd rather be with you in a cramped, cold tin can then apart from you in a modern, up to date school!" Rachel grinned back and leant over, tenderly kissing Finn's lips. He responded, returning the kiss for a few moments until Rachel broke away.

"At least Brittany's going to be okay!" Rachel sighed, thinking about the last few weeks. They had been the worst of her life, and she missed Matt terribly but at least they hadn't lost Brittany too.

"I know. I was so glad when she woke up on Saturday. Mike texted me earlier and said she was sat up and talking and everything. I think Santana like exploded with happiness or something," Finn winked.

"I'm quite sure that isn't possible Finn. What do you want to do today anyway?" Rachel asked, glancing over at her DVD collection. _Maybe today she could finally convince Finn to watch Funny Girl!_

"Well, I sort of wanted to show you something?" Finn blushed, stumbling over his words.

Rachel grew curious, "What? It's not your medals on that X-Tin or something? Or your collection of cowboy hats?"

"How'd you know about my hats!" Finn cried indignantly.

"Well you did say you checked under your bed to make sure I wasn't hanging out under there... But you forgot about the closet!" Rachel teased.

"No way!" Finn gasped, ever the gullible.

"Of course I didn't Finn! I just took the liberty of nosing around your room the first time you invited me over, just in case I found incriminating evidence I could use in future to ensure your loyalty to glee club..." Rachel felt awkward under Finn's stare, glad when he finally laughed and broke the tension.

"As if I'd leave glee club! It's like my second home!" he reassured the petite brunette.

"Anyway, sorry to interrupt, you said you wanted to show me something?" she questioned.

Finn looked to the floor, shuffling uncomfortably and reaching over to his bag. He pulled out a little i-Pod dock and leant over to the wall to plug it in. At times like this he was glad he was such a frankenteen because it meant he could still reach things without having to spend ages pulling out his chair again and sorting it out. Rachel watched, intrigued.

"Okay well this is normally the sort of thing you'd do to me, and I think you're kinda rubbing off on me a bit, but it's been like a month or something since the fire and I wanted to show you how much you mean to me, even in times so bad and shitty. You're a lot to me and this song shows how I feel... so sit back and relax, Rach, and enjoy the show!" he ended his speech with a wink in her direction and she smiled softly, settling back at he pressed play on the dock. He shuffled over on the sofa so he could see Rachel more clearly, and then he began to sing, softly and putting every hint of emotion he felt into the song.

"_You're my world__  
__The shelter from the rain__  
__You're the pills__  
__That take away my pain__  
__You're the light__  
__That helps me find my way__  
__You're the words__  
__When I have nothing to say_

_And in this world__  
__Where nothing else is true__  
__Here I am__  
__Still tangled up in you__  
__I'm still tangled up in you__  
__Still tangled up in you_

_You're the fire__  
__That warms me when i'm cold__  
__You're the hand__  
__I have to hold as I grow old__  
__You're the shore__  
__When I am lost at sea__  
__You're the only thing__  
__That I like about me_

_And in this world__  
__Where nothing else is true__  
__Here I am__  
__Still tangled up in you__  
__I'm still tangled up in you_

_How long has it been__  
__Since this storyline began__  
__And I hope it never ends__  
__And goes like this forever_

_In this world__  
__Where nothing else is true__  
__Here I am__  
__Still tangled up in you__  
__Tangled up in you__  
__I'm still tangled up in you__  
__Still tangled up in you"_

The music faded out and just as Finn was getting his breath back, his lips were attacked by a very happy Rachel Berry. She moved her soft, warm little mouth against his frantically, smiling so wide he could feel it in the kiss. He eventually pulled away, gasping for breath but the size of his grin matched hers.

"I love you!" Rachel exclaimed, smiling up at him as she said it.

"I love you too Rachel! Nothing will ever change that," Finn replied, smiling back.

"Good because I plan on keeping you in my life for a long, long time," she nodded.

"I'm glad to see our plans match," he replied with a grin on his face.

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_Hope you liked it :/ Please review? :) Oh, and the song was Tangled Up In You - Staind. It's cute. Check it out :)_


	20. Shadow On The Ground

I updated! Eeee! I'm proud :) Thanks for all the EPIC reviews for the last chapter, but I felt a little bit of fluff was needed and it seemed appreciated! And the fluff... is now over. Quinn and Puck's story takes a dark turn in this chapter :) Enjoy, thank you for your support and make sure to read the authors note at the end of the chapter... :)

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**_Cause when I'm in the sun, I see your shadow on the ground..._**

_Quinn was running down the corridor as quickly as possible after her fellow glee clubbers. She had been the last one to leave the room excluding Rachel, collecting her things together before running after Puck. Before she left, she turned to Rachel, beckoning her to get a move on._

"_Rachel? Hurry up, yeah?" Quinn said in a slightly panicked tone._

"_I'll do my best Quinn. As a matter of fact, I'll probably be outside in a few moments – I'm just collecting together these music sheets for Mr Schue before escaping. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just catch up with Puck, okay? You have Beth to worry about after all," Rachel nodded before going back to collecting together her sheets._

"_Alright, I'll see you outside!" Quinn turned away, letting the door fall into place behind her before beginning a run down the corridor. The heat from some of the doors was intense; she could feel it burning against her skin without even touching the door. Without even a second thought she continued running, realising that the school wasn't a safe place to be in anymore. _

_As she got to the corridor leading to science, she could see a body slumped against the lockers. Quinn could feel the sick rising in her throat and slowed down, stopping to hear what the person was muttering._

"_Dear God, please look after Rachel. Make sure she survives this okay. I'm so sorry I never got to tell her how I felt. I hope she never finds out, it might hurt her too much to know. I can't believe the vocal lessons screwed me over like this, but I know you'll look after me God. Please make it quick. I don't want it to last much longer. I wish I hadn't been invisible whilst I was alive, I wish I'd told people where I'd gone. It's too late now, but I know wherever I'm going is better. Please God, make it quick..."_

_Quinn turned away, emptying her stomach on the floor. She wiped her mouth with her hand, dabbed her forehead with her sleeve and walked down the corridor a few inches to see if there was any chance of saving this boy. As she grew closer in one sickening blow she realised it was Matt. _

"_Matt!" she called, but her voice was whipped away as the ceiling gave away around him. Tears falling down her face, she turned away and ran as quickly as she could outside – to Puck, to clean air, to survival. As the cold air hit her in the face and she gulped in the oxygen greedily, guilt and pain churned in her stomach. Coughing to try and stop the flow of tears, she stumbled over to Puck who took her in his big, strong arms._

"_It's okay to cry, baby..." he soothed, so only in Puck's safe arms did she cry again._

Quinn jolted in bed, the scenes of that horrific day replaying constantly in her mind. She could feel cold tears on her face and her throat was sore, as if she'd been screaming in her sleep. Slowly sitting up, she reached over to the mirror and wiped away the tears, scraping her hair up and fixing it in a bun so she felt a little better. She then reached over for a glass of water, taking huge gulps of the water to try and soothe her aching throat. The guilt of that day was replaying on her mind – this was the tenth nightmare in eleven days. There was only one sensible solution in Quinn's mind: ring Puck and come clean. She grabbed her phone, dialled his number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" his groggy voice came through the phone.

"Hi Puck. Sorry to wake you up. Will you meet me somewhere?"

She could hear him coughing and yawning in the background before she heard him shift off his bed, "I'll be at yours in five minutes. We'll go for a drive."

"Okay. Thanks babe," she whispered, putting the phone down and grabbing another coat. She then slipped out of her front door, quietly locking it behind her and waiting on the balcony for Puck. He turned up moments later, beckoning her into his truck. She skipped across the lawn, opened the door and slid in.

"Hey..." she whispered.

"Hi Q, what did you want?" Puck yawned, stretching his left arm and steering with his right.

"I need to tell you something," she stated, and with the look on her face he knew it wasn't good.

"What?" he asked, curiously but nervously.

"Please don't hate me," she looked to the floor of the car.

"I could never hate you, Quinn," he yawned again, pulling over to the side of the road.

"Well... on the day of the fire..." she trailed off and he prompted her to keep going with a swift nod, "I saw Matt. Right before he died of the ceiling collapse. It was my fault he died. I didn't act quickly enough. I ran towards him and the ceiling collapse and I _ran _Puck. I can't get it out of my head!" Quinn blurted, turning a ghastly white when she noticed the look of stricken horror on Puck's face.

"W-what?" he stumbled over his words, disbelieving all Quinn had said.

"It's true. I'm so sorry!" Quinn burst into tears. Puck did nothing to comfort her.

"Oh," Puck just stared into thin air, not knowing what to do, "You were right."

Quinn looked up at this, a look of pain in her eyes.

"What about?" she sniffed.

"It is your fault he's dead," Puck didn't know where the words came from. Was it from his grief? Was it because of his sheer exhaustion? As soon as he spat the words out he wanted to take them back, seeing Quinn's face crumple as she grabbed the door handle and jumped out of the car.

"Quinn! Wait! I didn't mean it!" he shouted, but it was too late, she was gone. He slammed his head on the wheel, leaned over to slam Quinn's door shut and drove off in an angry rage.

Quinn was exhausted from running from Puck. She was exhausted from the pain of the repeated nightmares and the constant guilt. Quinn, in short, was exhausted. Slumping into the bush that used to be her secret den as a kid, she reached into her pocket, fumbling around until she felt the piece of glass she'd never thrown away pierce her finger. Smiling at finding it, she pulled it out and drew it across her wrist, slowly and deep, enjoying the relief the pain brought.

"I'm sorry Matt. I'm sorry Rachel. I'm sorry Mercedes. And I'm sorry Puck..." she whispered as she fell into a deep, pain inflicted slumber.

* * *

_Cliffhanger. And that's it. That's my last update until the first of September or the 30th August if you're lucky. I'm really sorry to leave you here but I'm going on holiday on Sunday until then. Thank you for your support and sticking with my story and it'll be back then! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review :)_


	21. When I Turn Around

_I UPDATED! oh my god, I updated. Hope you enjoy this. It's took a lot for me to get back into it. I tried, it took me five attempts to get this right. I'll hopefully be updating more now, although school has put a lot more work on me in my final year. Thanks for the fab pep talks and stuff, love you guys! Don't own the song, Daughty do and I love them lots. Check them out, ace band. Okay, enough notes, lets get to the story that's taken my long enough. By the way, Brittany is next chapter! And who's looking forward to Grilled Cheesus? I am. Okay, please enjoy..._

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_'but you're never there, when i turn around...'_

Mike couldn't exactly recall when he'd begun running in the mornings. He presumed it was sometime as he was moving up to high school so he'd have the advantage of stamina on everyone else trying out for the football teams. Figuring he'd quit once he got on the team, he didn't take it really seriously and never tried out for track or anything... but once he'd started he found he couldn't stop. He _enjoyed_ the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair, the ache of his muscles after he'd pushed it to the limit, the feeling of freedom cause no one else was around. When Matt had joined him sometimes, he'd found it even better, exhilarating with just him and his best friend against the world. Then there was the fire and it was over cause his world was crashing around him and running wasn't gonna save it. Then there was _Brittany_, Brittany who knew how much running meant to him, who had forgiven him even though he'd accidentally shot her, who had encouraged him to start running again because she loved him.

Grabbing a hoodie, he shut the door softly behind him, not wanting to wake his family as it was only early. He began to move his legs in the familiar pattern, feet pounding the side walk as he ran around the silent town of Lima, Ohio. He ran through street after street passing Matt's house, Puck's house and Quinn's house as he neared the park. Opening the park gate, he slipped through and began to speed up, running up and down the parks big hills and through the football field. As he came down the last hill, he stumbled over a stone and toppled head first into a bush.

Cursing silently to himself, he lay there in the damp for a few minutes, regaining his breathe. Once he found his normal breathing rate again, he began to lift himself up only to see a small, blonde figure in the bushes around him. Crawling over and pulling her onto her back, his heart sunk into his toes as he realised it was Quinn. Grabbing her wrist to search for a pulse, he recoiled in horror as he saw dry blood stuck to her skin, numerous cuts and scars marking her arms.

"I didn't know the fire affected anyone else this much!" Mike whispered, "Oh God, I've been so selfish, I didn't know!"

Brushing her hair to one side, he felt for a pulse on the side of her neck. After a few doubtful seconds, he found the small pulse to the side of her neck. He sighed with relief, grinning that he hadn't lost another one of his friends. Shaking her shoulders softly, he began to pick her up, grateful for all the weight training he used to do before the fire. When she roused slightly, he couldn't help but laugh in pure happiness, so happy that she was going to be okay.

"Quinn? Quinn, are you there?" He asked softly, looking down at her.

She shifted slightly, looking uncomfortable but relieved at the same time.

"I'm here, Mike," she whispered, looking down at her arms and pulling her cardigan down over them.

"Let's take you to the benches and talk," he suggested, carrying her over to a secluded bench before putting her down gently and looking at her.

"Okay Quinn, I know we're not best friends but I'll still listen if you want to talk..." Mike trailed off, gazing at her but she looked away.

"I'm fine, but thank you for finding me," she replied stiffly, gazing at her chewed fingernails.

"Okay. Would you like me to take you to Puck?" At the mention of Puck, Quinn snapped up, eyes drained of any feeling.

"No thank you. If you could take me to Mercedes though, I would appreciate it greatly," Quinn nodded, looking back down at her hand again.

"Okay, where's Mercedes house?" Mike asked, happy to do his best for her.

"It's on the other side of town," Quinn looked up at Mike for the first time, eyes filled with gratitude, "near Baker Street."

Mike frowned. "I don't have my car with me, but I'll take you to my house which is three blocks away, then I'll give you a ride. Is that okay?"

"That's more then okay Mike. Thank you."

They walked out of the park in silence, neither of them initiating conversation and neither of them wanting too. Quinn felt small and stupid, not understanding how she could have let a boy like Puck get to her so much. _That's the last time you're ever going to let anyone else in, Quinn. Never again._

Mike felt happy, glad he could finally do something to help again, to return to a sense of normality. For him, it was the first step to becoming a gleek again, to a life where he could feel happiness and laughter. With Brittany.

When they got to Mike's house, Quinn waited by the car whilst he nipped inside and grabbed his keys from the fruit bowl. He then opened the car door for her, helping her in and then walking around to his side of the car, sliding in and starting the ignition. Fiddling with the radio, he put on Galaxy and began to drive. A few seconds into the journey, he realised Quinn was looking at him intently.

After a minute or so, he realised she was still watching him.

"Have I upset you or something? Do I have something on my face?" he asked, checking himself in the wing mirror.

She laughed then, a tinkling laugh that he couldn't deny he was happy to hear.

"There's nothing on your face, and no, you've not upset me. It's just the people I usually ride with don't listen to the radio in the car and I don't drive so I don't get the choice. It's nice. I like it!" she smiled, settling into the seat.

"Glad to have impressed you!" he laughed then, smiling over at her, "Well, do you want to mess with the radio until you find something you like?"

She grinned as a response, moving the dial until it came onto a song she loved.

"I love this song!" she exclaimed, softly singing along.

"_Ten miles from town and I just broke down__  
__Spittin' out smoke on the side of the road__  
__I'm out here alone just tryin' to get home__  
__To tell you I was wrong but you already know__  
__Believe me I won't stop at nothin'__  
__To see you so I've started runnin'_

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter__  
__As long as I'm laughing with you__  
__I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after__  
__After the life we've been through__  
__'Cause I know there's no life after you..._

Mike looked at her in surprise, joining in with the second verse.

_Last time we talked, the night that I walked__  
__Burns like an iron in the back of my mind__  
__I must've been high to say you and I__  
__Weren't meant to be and just wasting my time__  
__Oh, why did I ever doubt you?__  
__You know I would die here without you_

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter__  
__As long as I'm laughing with you__  
__I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after__  
__After the life we've been through__  
__'Cause I know there's no life after you..._

Quinn's voice grew stronger, the emotion leaking into her voice as she sang the lyrics she knew so well. Mike sang powerfully too, never looking at Quinn and concentrating on the road, but knowing that what they were sharing was special.

_You and I, right or wrong, there's no other one__  
__After this time I spent alone__  
__It's hard to believe that a man with sight could be so blind__  
__Thinkin' 'bout the better times, must've been outta my mind__  
__So I'm runnin' back to tell you_

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter__  
__Without you God knows what I'd do_

_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter__  
__As long as I'm laughing with you__  
__I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after__  
__After the life we've been through__  
__'Cause I know there's no life after you"_

Panting heavily, they sat back in their seats, eyes forward on the road. Nothing was said and the radio carried on playing as if nothing had happened. When Mike pulled over on Baker Street, the silence continued, but Quinn didn't move.

"Qu-"

"Mi-"

They laughed, the awkwardness forgotten.

"Ladies first," Mike grinned, Quinn smiling in response.

"Thank you. That duet was epic. We should take it to glee club in September. Everything you've done for me today is more then people have done in a lifetime. I appreciate it. Thanks, Mike." Quinn began to open the car door, smiling tentatively at Mike.

"Anytime Quinn. Whenever you need me, just call!" Mike leaned over then, hugging her goodbye. She smiled again, climbing out of the car and running down the road to Mercedes. Just before she rang the doorbell, she waved at Mike's car and disappeared inside.

Mike reversed and drove away, thinking about the strange events the day had already thrown at him.

He couldn't help but think how awesome it would be if he'd just made friends with Quinn Fabray.

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_Okay, hope you liked it! Please review... :)_


	22. Right Tracks Again

_Okay so I haven't updated in months. Much apologies, exams hit me, and mocks have hit me, and my final year of school is actually exceptionally difficult! But I'm back. And I'm sorry if this isn't satisfactory, but I've done my best :) Here it is, sums up a lot I guess. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for sticking with me so far! Reviews will make me update faster *hint hint* not like I deserve them! This story is coming to an end now, but here's the chapter..._

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'everytime i fall asleep my dreams are haunted...'_

It was early. Too early for Puck. The sun wasn't even up fully yet, but he knew he had to make this apology right, and if it meant getting up at the fucking crack of dawn, he would. Puck knew how Quinn liked to sometimes see the sunrise, to appreciate the sanctity of life or some crap like that.

But if it meant something to Quinn, it meant something to Puck.

He owed her one big-ass apology. He'd been such an asswipe it was un-fucking-believable, so if it meant going to the shops at around 6am in the morning to get her some presents (without stealing them) and then going to her house to see her, then he sure as hell would.

So, like the whipped fucker he was, he got up, drove to the shops and bought her a couple of 'I'm-sorry-I-deserve-shooting' apology presents and went to her house.

Going to Quinn's always made him inferior. The houses on this street were freaking massive and posh with it. But Puckerman was anything but a pussy, and after a minutes pep-talk, he got out of his car and rang her cell.

After three rings, it went to voicemail.

He knew that apology was going to be difficult, but flat out rejection? Unexpected. Then again, Quinn was the Queen of Cool before the fire, and Puck really shouldn't have expected anything less from her.

"Fuck it." He cursed under his breath. Chucking the bag he was holding over the fence, he stood back and took a run at the gate, getting over in seconds.

Quinn appeared at her window. Puck could see her pale face gazing at him, eyes throwing daggers at him as he approached the tree he'd climbed a million times before. He climbed it stealthily and with ease, a cheeky smirk on his face as he neared her balcony and jumped over.

A shiver ran down his spine when he saw her eyes hadn't even registered him – there wasn't a flicker of recognition or any emotion at all. He tapped on her window three times, and only then did he get a look of disgust. Opening her balcony door, she sighed with impatience and ushered him in.

"What?" There was no hello, just a one syllable word that made him think maybe this was going to be harder then he anticipated.

"I'm sorry."

She didn't even blink, taking three strides across her room and grabbing a dictionary before walking back and smacking him on the torso with it.

"So you're SORRY now are you? You're SORRY you made me run away at god knows what time at night, in the pitch black putting me at risk of rape or murder? You're SORRY I cut myself again because of you? You're SORRY for letting me believe it was my fault Matt died?" she whacked the dictionary across him again before looking away, hurt finally showing in her eyes.

Wincing slightly from the hits – Quinn could freaking hit hard! – Puck gave her a few moments to calm down before walking up to her slowly and enveloping her into a hug.

"I'm really sorry," he whispered into her hair, stroking her back as she nestled into him, "I missed this and you so much. I love you, Quinn. We're meant to be, we're perfect for each other. You bring out everything good in me and I bring elements of excitement to your life. We need each other; please don't let us lose that because I'm an ass hole!"

There was a moments silence before Quinn looked up at him.

"Bacon. You have bacon, don't you?"

"A bacon sandwich, no sauces and on a white toasted muffin, just the way you like it!" Puck let go of Quinn and rustled through the bag, grabbing the sandwich and presenting it to her.

"I know it means you're sorry when you bring me bacon, Puckerman!" she grinned at him, her eyes watering slightly.

"And flowers!" he grinned, "white roses, your favourites!"

Taking the bacon sandwich and the roses, Quinn threw them on her bed and looked up at the best thing in her life.

"I'm sorry I messed up Quinn. You mean everything to me, and that night I missed Matt so fucking much and I didn't know what to do. But it's not your fault, it was just meant to be and I'm so sorry I let this happen to you again. It's never gonna happen again babe, because I'm always gonna be here for you. I love you, Fabray!"

"I love you too, Puck."

She stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed him softly. Puck didn't know what the hell he'd done to deserve something as amazing as this, but he was going to be forever grateful.

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Rachel was cuddled up to Finn on her sofa, Harry Potter 6 playing on the television. It wasn't that she didn't like Harry Potter, but she felt that her time could be used more wisely by studying musical theatre, or trawling through record stores, or practising her solos for the return of New Directions. Still, if it made Finn happy – which it apparently did by the awe struck grin on his face – it made her happy. It wasn't as if she disliked being close to Finn anyway.

After two weeks of physio, they were both more or less back to normal. They had to apply lotion to their wounds, but they had both regained full use of their limbs, Rachel because of her exceptional dance training and Finn because of his football strength. Rachel couldn't but be incredibly relieved – using wheelchairs and being reliant on her fathers was tedious and exhausting. Now she could do as she pleased, and she intended to go visit Brittany as soon as possible.

When the film finally ended and began rolling the credits, Finn shook Rachel, who had curled up asleep on his shoulder. She yawned – the totally cutest yawn in the freaking world according to Finn – and blinked a couple of times, looking up at Finn.

"I am sorry Finn; I did not intend to fall asleep throughout the film you so desperately wanted to see. I must be exhausted!" she stretched a little and snuggled into him tighter.

"It's cool babe. I didn't understand like half the words you used, but it's cool!" he smiled down at her, "are you really tired? Cause if you are I'll go home!"

"No, certainly not, I enjoy your company! There was something I hoped we could do this afternoon actually?"

"Anything for you, Rach!"

"I wouldn't mind paying a visit to Brittany in the hospital. I hear she is recovering exceptionally well from her injuries and I wouldn't want her going home thinking we didn't care enough to make an effort to see her."

"You're one of the most selfless people I know Rachel. Of course we can go see her; I'll go get the truck fired up now!" He stood up to show his willingness to go to the hospital, bent down to give Rachel a quick kiss and then left to find his car keys. Rachel followed suit, waiting for Finn to leave before locking up and joining him in the truck. It was a quick drive to the hospital and they were soon in the reception, asking for the room number of Brittany Pierce.

"Room 43. I'm glad to see your injuries are healing well Rachel." The receptionist smiled at Rachel; by the end of Rachel's stay in hospital, there wasn't a member of staff who hadn't known her.

"Thanks Sarah!" She grabbed Finn's hand and they walked quietly across the wards to where Brittany was. She was sat up in bed, chatting lively to her mom and it didn't seem like a good idea to disturb her right now. They slumped into seats outside her room, still grasping hands.

"Finn, are you okay?" Rachel asked worriedly. He had turned a little pale, and his palm was getting sweaty.

"I'm fine Rachel. It's just strange; a month ago you were in here fighting for your life. You were inches from death and you survived. Right in this very hospital. It's eerie being back here. In this very hospital, Brittany was pulled back from death too. And in this very hospital, I was saved from death... and Matt, Matt was pronounced dead. I don't like being here; it makes me feel creeped out." He shuddered, grasping tighter onto Rachel's hand.

"But I'm here, okay? And so is Brittany, and so are you! We're still here, living and breathing and existing. Matt died, and it's the worst thing that's ever happened to us, but it was for a reason and no matter how vicious and nasty that reason is, at least he's in a better place. This hospital is our godsend, because without it, I wouldn't have ever gotten you back. Before, me and you, we weren't together and I was losing out on so much that I didn't realise because I was so self centred and my life was all about me. So this place, no matter how creepy, is a miracle, because it gave me my everything." Rachel looked up at Finn to see the colour restored to his face.

"I love you Rachel Berry, so much."

"I love you too Finn Hudson!"

The door to Brittany's room swung open then, and her mom came out.

"Hello kids, you must be from that lovely glee club my Brit was always telling me about?" She addressed Finn and Rachel with a nervous smile.

"Hello, yes, we're the co-leaders of New Directions! How's Brittany been?" Rachel asked.

"Brittany's recovering well. No-ones sure how she got shot and to be quite honest, I don't really care as long as I have my Brit back. You can pop in to see her if you like, I have to get home and have a nap because the hospital run is exhausting!"

"Thank you, Ms Pierce; it was nice to meet you!" Rachel said, Finn nodding in the background.

"Anytime. By the way, you were very talented at Sectionals last year. Your rendition of Don't Rain on My Parade was incredible, I adore that song and you did it justice. Well done!" With that, Brittany's mom tottered down the hall, her black skirt swishing as she walked.

"I love that woman!" Rachel breathed and Finn laughed.

"That's because you're amazing Rachel! Come on, let's go see Brit!" He stood up and knocked on the door, opening it when he heard a cheery 'Come in!'.

"Hey Brit, how's things been?" Finn asked, slipping into the chair next to her bed. Rachel sat on the other side, nodding her hello to the blonde cheerio.

"It's pretty here. They have nice food and things, and I have a comfy bed and I've been getting loads of presents off people and things, so it's cool. I can't wait to go home and see my teddies again though, and see my room!"

"Oh dear, we should have brought you some flowers!" Rachel sighed loudly, cursing herself for being so foolish.

"It's okay! Flowers only rot after all, it's probably nicer to keep them in the ground and let them live!" Brittany nodded contently.

"Fair enough... totally..." Finn nodded, unsure of what to say.

"So, erm, are you feeling better?" Rachel asked.

"Sure! It hurt loads at first, but now it's better and it was worth it and things. I'm kind of sad I'll never be able to cheer again, but I'm alive so it's cool! Mike asked me out too, so I'm happier then I was before!" Brittany nodded again.

Just as Rachel was about to speak, Mike entered the room.

"Hey Brit, today I brought you... OH hi Finn and Rachel! Long time no speak!" Mike waved at the couple and Brittany.

"It's okay, it's probably best we leave now!" Rachel explained.

"Totally. See you Mike and Brittany!" Finn added. Rachel hugged Mike and waved to Brittany, as did Finn before they left the room.

Things were finally on the right tracks again.

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_Hope you enjoyed it! Please review :)?_


	23. Epilogue

_So it's been three quarters of a year since I updated this. I can't offer you anything other than sincere apologies. I've had a crazy time. I sat all my exams, I left school, I've been on holiday twice, I went to glee live, I met Cory Monteith, Ashley Fink, Harry Shum... But I am sorry that this final chapter has taken so long. To be quite honest, I'm also sorry at how poor this epilogue is as well. It's not beta'd, it's not checked over, it's just a final to a story that should have been finished a long time ago._

_Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts, they've meant the world to me. It still made my day to get a review or an alert even when this story was on an unplanned hiatus. _

_I hope you enjoy the epilogue of Down Goes Another One._

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It had been a full year since the fire. 365 days. 52 weeks. 8765 hours (according to Finn's Google search anyway). Finn couldn't believe that much time had passed already. It felt like only yesterday he'd ran back into the burning school and woken up in hospital.

It hadn't been an easy year though. He could smell the smoke at night and feel the flicker of the flames eat at his skin. Finn thought that the nightmares were sometimes the hardest part. They reminded him of how much people had lost that day, although there wasn't a day gone by where he didn't think of Matt.

So much had happened in the aftermath of the fire and funerals. Finn and Rachel began attending therapy sessions together so they could come to terms with the tragedy of the fire and the injuries they had suffered. Mike had asked if he could join them, still struggling to cope with the death of his best friend and the near death of his girlfriend. Of course, Finn had said yes and after her recovery, Brittany and Santana had asked if they could join, believing it would help them get through the next year. Soon after, the entire glee club had joined the therapy sessions. Quinn opened up about her self harm, Mike revealed how he had intended to commit suicide and Puck even joined in, explaining how he felt guilty over Matt's death and to some extent blamed Quinn for the terrible events. They talked through their problems and even though no-one was over what had happened, everyone felt better.

They were all sat together in their makeshift choir room. New Directions hadn't disbanded, and even though they hadn't qualified for Nationals this year, they felt that under the circumstances they'd been very successful, placing second at Regionals. They hadn't looked for new members to replace Matt as they felt it too soon, but the Show Choir Committee had made an exception for them to enter the competition. Rehearsals had been difficult as Mr Schuester couldn't afford to replace the piano or sheet music they'd lost, but Quinn's mom had donated a keyboard and a guitar so they could get by. Rachel's dads copied all the sheet music their daughter had bought over the years and given them to the glee club. It had been a difficult struggle for them, but they had made it.

There was a quiet silence in the room as they remembered last year's glee club meeting and how it had ended very differently to this year. Mr Schue opened a drawer and pulled out twelve glasses, lining them up on the top of the desk. He reached further into the drawer and pulled out a carton of lukewarm orange juice. When the club realised what he was doing, they stood up slowly and walked over, each taking a glass as their teacher poured it. Finn was the last to get to the desk and grabbed the remaining two glasses, passing one to Rachel. She softly smiled at him and took his hand.

They all looked at Mr Schue with understanding eyes. After a moments silence, he raised the glass and closed his eyes.

"To Matt and the other students we lost on this tragic day last year."

Everyone else raised their glasses and repeated Mr Schue's sentiment – _"To Matt."_

After finishing their drinks, Mr Schue collected them and simply dismissed them. Quinn and Puck left together, Puck's strong arm wrapped tightly around her. Kurt, Mercedes, Tina and Artie walked off in a solemn silence towards the car park. Brittany and Mike also left together, with Santana holding pinkies with her best friend. Finn and Rachel left last, holding hands tightly as they had been before.

"Are you okay, Rach?" Finn asked his girlfriend quietly.

Her eyes flickered to the ground before she looked up and left her gaze lingering on him. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying.

"Surprisingly, Finn, I am okay. The events that happened on this day last year were tragic – horrific – and will stay with me for the rest of my life. I'll always miss Matt; he was talented and kind and was taken from us too soon. But it brought me closer to you, and even though I'll always wish it hadn't taken an event as heart-breaking as the fire, I'll be grateful that I got you in return. Maybe Matt's looking out for us up there, I don't know…"

Finn wrapped his arms around the tiny brunette, holding her tightly.

"I know babe, I know. I miss him too. But… I love you. And I'm happy that I have you," Finn smiled.

"I love you too, Finn!" Rachel stood on her tiptoes, leaning in to press her lips to his.

The events of last year weren't behind them, but they had each other and that was enough.

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_Apologies for the cheesy ending, but I love me some cheesy finchel and I'm so glad they're back together in the show, yay! Okay, thank you for reading, thank you for the alerts and reviews! I'll return to fanfiction sometime in the near future with a one-shot I've been planning for nearly a year! & yeah wow, thank you for reading my story :)_


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